Iridescent Cloud
by Elena Parker
Summary: Hibari stared at his tiny hands –that belonged to his five year old self- and scowled. Someone is going to be bitten to death for this. AU/Time Travel fic: In which Hibari Kyoya dies, and wakes up twenty years in the past in his five year old body. Chaos ensues as the fluttering of a Skylark's wings causes typhoons halfway across the world.
1. Vicissitude

**A/N: Hello everyone! My very first take on a Time Travel fic for Katekyo hitman Reborn! And, it is a Hibari Kyoya time travel to boot! You may ask, why would I write something like this? Frankly, I recently completed reading KHR manga (skipping some parts of Future arc for some reasons) and had gotten addicted to it. And then I stuck to KHR fanfics and loved the awesome stories i found on this site. And after reading so many amazing fics, I ended up writing one too.**

 **I don't regret writing it, and even if writing it was a headache and a half on it's own. because honestly, writing in Kyoya's point of view is -UGH!- like having reborn repeatedly kicking my head with Colonello and fon sitting over my shoulders and Skull screaming in my ear. In short it is mentally _exhausting_. I would feel really better if you all REALLY like it!**

 **SUMMARY -Hibari stared at his tiny hands –that belonged to his five year old self- and scowled. Someone is going to be bitten to death for this. AU/Time Travel fic: In which Hibari Kyoya dies, and wakes up twenty years in the past in his five year old body. Chaos ensues as the fluttering of a Skylark's wings causes typhoons halfway across the world.**

 **WARNING: \- mention of Violence, BoyxBoy pairing, Ripping cannon apart (Blame Kyoya!), five year old Kyoya's cuteness, Fluff and Humor, a bit of angst,and Reborn (Because he deserves a class of his own, XD)**

 **Disclaimer \- I don't own KHR...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Vicissitude:-**

 _noun_

plural noun: **vicissitude**

~a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.~

~O~

Hibari Kyoya –Vongola's Cloud Guardian, Wearer of the Vongola Cloud ring, Head of CEDEF and Namimori's Discipline Committee- died at the age of twenty five. He died a glorious death, taking down the Mafioso of a rival famiglia who had the gall to attack his fellow _guardiansfriendsfamily_ \- who even thought that they could take be on Vongola's bad side and _survive._

Just because the Vongola Decimo, Sawada Tsunayoshi - _his Boss, his ever accepting and all-encompassing Sky that he swore to protect_ (the small herbivore that grew up to be a _fabulous_ omnivore)- was a kind Leader and didn't like resorting to violence, didn't mean he was a pushover. So, when the _idiota_ from the Anguilla familglia kidnapped the Lightening herbivore and hurt him-

 _Well, is it really a wonder that they were bitten to death?_

When someone dares to anger their sky, the rest of the guardians follow with the temper tantrum. Even the pineapple carnivore was busy creating havoc on the enemies – _and that's saying something since the Pineapple Carnivore and the Lightening herbivore didn't get along, at all. Except when it comes to pranks. Because for some reason, they always banded together when it came to pranking the other guardians_ (Leaving a despairing Tsuna, yelling Hayato, grinning Takeshi, cheerful Ryohei, exasperated Chrome and a not-so-impressed Hibari….. Ah, good old days….).

So yes, Hibari died creating havoc and causing utter carnage on his enemies, and to sum it up- he died biting them to death.

It was really a _glorious_ death.

So, forgive him for being confused –and so, _so_ angry- when he woke up, alive-

- _in the wrong body._

* * *

 _Tiny._

His hands were tiny. And chubby. And _so_ weak that they won't be able to hold a tonfa properly.

His eye twitched. If this is a prank by the Pineapple Carnivore, then-

 _Blood will be shed._

(And no amount of Tsuna's pleading - _about the resulting paperwork and the repair costs_ \- and Gokudera's nagging _–"Stop making Juudaime worry, you Cloud Bastard!"_ -would make him change his decision.)

He threw off the blue blankets from his body – _blue?! Why the fuck were they blue?! He hated blue (especially since blue is the color of that pineapple Carnivore's hair!)_ \- and slid his feet on the side of the bed, and glowered at the fact that his feet didn't reach the floor. Turns out his legs got chibified too.

 _God. fucking. dammit!_

He jumped off the bed –and scowled at the fact that he actually _stumbled_ because of the impact (how much _real_ has this illusion been made by that Carnivore?!)\- and eyed the light blue walls of his room, as well as the soft toys, wooden blocks and plastic weapons- _swords, guns and his favorite tonfas_ \- and wondered why is the room similar to the one he had back at home when he was a baby herbivore. Is Mukuro trying to make him remember his childhood home? If so, then there are better ways to do this.

Snorting at the terrible idea of a prank that his fellow Mist Guardian has had, he made his way to the bathroom – _from what he remembers of his childhood home, it is the door on the left_ \- and once again scowled when he realized he didn't reach the door knob. Dragging a little stool near the door –the Pineapple will _definitely_ be bitten to death for this humiliation- he stood on it and then opened the door knob. Jumping off the stood, he rushed into the bathroom-

-only to pause in front of the full length mirror attached to the opposite wall. He stared at the reflection in the mirror, and the first thing that came to his mind was-

 _Short._

His height was no longer six feet that towered over the Omnivore Sky- _and was only shorter than the loud Herbivore Sun and Omnivore Rain_ \- but now was meagre forty two inches. His skin was pale, fair and was rid of the scars he had accumulated in his years working in a Mafioso family. His raven hair was short, and barely reached the nape of his neck, and his grey eyes were wide and innocent looking and cute – _oh the horror!_ \- instead of their narrow, sharp looking like they actually were. His body was tiny, cute, and slightly chubby – _with baby fat clinging to his limbs_ \- and not the fit and lithe body he had trained himself in.

His eyes roamed over his tiny body hesitantly. _This illusion is a bit too realistic…_

This is too much. The Pineapple carnivore has gone too far this time. It is getting borderline creepy and unsettling now (the Pineapple bastard must be cackling at his creeped out expression). He will deal with the insufferable _idiota_ later.

 _First, he has an illusion to break._

Closing his eyes, he searched deep inside him and reached out for his flames. The purple flames –with a flicker of indigo in between- flickered as soon as he called out to them. He reached out to grab it, and-

-they moved away from his grasp.

His eye twitched. _What. the. hell?!_

He calmed his mind by taking deep breaths, and once again reached out to his flames. He coaxed them as if he were coaxing a small animal –yes people, Hibari _can_ be gentle- and gently grabbed it in his grasp-

-only for it to escape. _Again._

Hibari clenched his fist and growled. Oh someone is _really_ going to be bitten to death for this. To actually make his flames _this_ dormant – _just for a stupid prank_ \- he didn't know whether that Pineapple Carnivore is actually this stupid or just plain suicidal. Oh who is he kidding, it's definitely a strange combination of both.

But really, he never had this much trouble with his flames – _except maybe for the first time when he tried to use them._ Taming them had been a headache and a half on it's own. If it hadn't been for Skull's help- _when the immortal Omnivore wasn't busy making a fool of himself_ (or getting bullied by Reborn and Colonello)\- and Fon's advice –which he grudgingly listened to sometimes(he had never been on good terms with his Uncle, but they made peace with their issues… eventually. Maybe. Oh who is he kidding, he still had a problem with the Chinese Carnivore. That man -for some reason- just _always_ rubbed him the wrong way.) – he would've taken a long time to control his flames.

Taking a deep breath, Hibari closed his eyes and tried to reach out for his Flames. _Again_. He will have these stupid flames under his grasp- Kyoya was nothing if not stubborn.

After twenty tries – _of thirteen of which were failed attempts_ -he finally had a good enough grasp on his flames. However, something was strange… They were weaker –No, it seems like they were less in quantity than what he usually had, but that wasn't the only thing…. His Cloud flames were –what's the word? Yeah right- _denser_ than before. They were stronger, more powerful and more… cloud-like – _you could say_ \- than before. Even if they were smaller than their usual size.

Shrugging this strange phenomenon or now, Hibari got a hold of his flames –that _purred_ as soon as he reached out for them, and playfully danced around him like a naughty child demanding for attention (more like a certain Lightening herbivore when he is being annoying)\- and let it run through his whole body in a loop, and smiled smugly. That will disrupt any illusion hovering over his senses.

His smirked soon turned into a frown when he realized that nothing changed. He was still a tiny human. The illusion didn't disrupt.

Tch, what kind of illusion is it? There has never been an illusion Kyoya couldn't break out of –this fact was confirmed by both Viper and Mukuro when they once teamed up against Kyoya and lost heavily since he kept destroying their illusions as soon as they cast it on him. So why isn't this illusion breaking? Is it time based?

Or-

A strange thought entered his mind, and Kyoya's eyes widened. Impossible. It couldn't be….

But….. what if it really happened?

He had died, hadn't he? So, unless he had somehow survived and is being subjected to the enemies' interrogation through Mist Flames – _if he had been caught by the wrong side_ \- or was just being subjected to a prank illusion by Mukuro for getting maimed and making everyone worry; it is highly likely that he is very much dead and is dreaming all this –is this what happens after death? Do people dream once they die? How….. _strange._

There is also another possibility- _something which is so damn impossible that he would only be laughed at by everyone else for thinking about it if they had been here_. It didn't make any sense, and he was definitely crazy for thinking this… but it somehow _fits._

His short size and age of five… The room in his childhood home that he hadn't seen in a decade or so…. His smaller –but powerful- Cloud Flames….

Oh fuck, don't tell him, he is really in the _past?_ And in his five year old body no less….

 _Damn it, this is definitely Mukuro's fault._

(Because _of course_ it is his fault. Everything strange that happens to Hibari is because of the damn Pineappe Carnivore. Whenever he finds him the next time, the Pineapple Canivore will _definitely_ be bitten to death.)

* * *

Hibari Kyoya was _not_ sulking. _Of course not._ Anyone that says otherwise will be bitten to death. Because Hibari Kyoya _did not sulk._

A dainty finger poked his chubby cheek. "Kyo-chan, why are you sulking?" His mother cooed at him.

He glared at his annoying Omnivore mother, and bit her finger. She yelped and smacked the back of his head – _lightly of course. If she had used even an iota of the strength on him that she uses on her subordinates, he would've been sent flying_ \- and he reluctantly released her finger from his mouth. His mother wiped her finger – _that was dripping with Kyoya's saliva and had tiny teeth mark indented on it_ \- with a napkin and huffed, "Really Kyo-chan, that is no way to treat your mother?"

Kyoya just ignored his mother and continued sulking- frowning. He quietly ate his breakfast, ignoring his parents as they sent him worried glances every once in a while.

His father –Hibari Seiji-sighed and placed down his chopsticks and stared at him. "What's wrong, Kyoya? You have been brooding even more today than you usually do."

Kyoya shot him a glare. He did _not_ brood, thank you very much.

"You do." Hibari Seiji pointed out as he clearly read his son's offended expression.

Kyoya scoffed and ignored his father in favor of eating his breakfast. He has better things to do than to deal with his omnivore mother and carnivore father –like take an analysis of his present situation, and making a tentative plan and keep an eye out for his fellow guardians, and find out if they too are back in the past or he is the only one (He wasn't the Head of CEDEF and Namimori's DC for no reason. As much as Basil was proficient in handling CEDEF's matters, the man had been too kind and naive to deal with the darker parts that came with being Leader of an Organisation that had secret ties with mafia's biggest famiglia.)

A smack on his head made him almost choke on the rice he had been chewing, making him scowl at his mother, who was staring at him sternly. "Your father asked you something, _bambino,_ " she scolded him. "Don't ignore him."

His father sighed. "It's alright, Yuna." Seiji called out to his wife. "Kyoya doesn't talk much anyways."

"But still," she frowned. "It's so rude of him to ignore you like that."

Seiji just shook his head. "It's fine, really." He then glanced at Kyoya and said, "You're going to be late if you keep eating slowly, Kyoya."

Kyoya just stared at him. _Late? For what?_

His father seemed to have read his mind, as he stared at him incredulously and said, "For school, of course. Honestly Kyoya, what has gotten into you?"

School… Middle School? No, he's too young for that... Then, is he talking about Elementary School?

An image of screaming baby herbivores, sweetly smiling herbivore teachers and _herbivores-that-think-of-themselves-as-carnivores_ (aka bullies) flashed through his mind, and he groaned and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall.

He is going to a place packed with herbivores… If any of them crowd around him, he will bite them to death.

As if he had read his mind, his father reminded him sternly, "And no biting," he warned him, "Your teacher called me the other day, telling me how you bit a fellow classmate."

He didn't know what his father was talking about, but he could guess. There aren't many reasons he would bite herbivores. "The herbivore was annoying." He mumbled in defense.

"I honestly don't care, Kyoya." Seiji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed exasperatedly. "You are a human, not an animal. Stop biting people."

His Cloud Flames bristled angrily inside him, feeling indignant and angry on his behalf. He soothed them down and wrestled them under his control before they could get out of hand and erupt out of him and harm his own parents. He knew they meant well.

 _Doesn't mean he had to like it though._

(His fellow guardians never complained about his habit of biting people to death. Sure they were annoyed at him, sometimes even exasperated, but they never condoned him for his strange habits.

Not like they had any room to talk. They were plenty crazy. His violent ways had nothing on Tsuna absurd brand of luck, Hayato's 'Juudaime worshipping', Takeshi's abnormal cheeriness, Lambo's annoying bratty attitude, Ryohei's loudness, Mukuro's creepiness and Chrome's quiet yet sadistic personality.

They were all goddamn crazy. But they were his bunch of crazies, and Kyoya wouldn't have them any other way.)

School was _hell._

There were baby herbivores _everywhere_ \- screaming, talking, laughing, chattering- and they were always crowding– _why would they even_ do _that? Why can't they act like goddamn humans like they actually were and not some cattle!_ \- Thankfully, no one approached him –and the fools who did always ran away with their tails tucked in between their legs when he glared at them. Tch, herbivores.

He was fine in his corner was the classroom – _away from crowding herbivores with mentality of a sheep_ \- and was having a great time playing with his plastic tonfas, when the teacher – _the utter idiota_ \- suggested a group activity so that everyone could participate and be friends – _her words, not his._

Kyoya had glowered when his name had been announced with two others, and as soon as the teams were divided, color pencils and drawing sheets were distributed to everyone. Kyoya had sat on the edge of the desk –away from the two herbivores he had been assigned to his team- and was quietly drawing on his paper, and was ignoring the other two boys who were sending curious glances his way with practiced ease.

Everything was going well –his drawing of Roll (his precious Cloud hedgehog) was coming out really well- until the herbivore next to him scooting nearer to him.

"Ne, ne," the baby herbivore exclaimed, "Your drawing is so cool! This mouse is really cute."

 _What._

He just _did not_ call Roll a mouse.

He glared at the offending herbivore. "He is not a mouse."

The boy blinked. "Eh? But it is!" he then said, "And you know what? He will look really cool with dark blue colored fur!" saying this the boy grabbed an indigo crayon, and started coloring on _his_ painting.

Not only that, but of all the color crayons, he just had to use indigo –the color of Pineapple Carnivore's hair.

Kyoya growled angrily and grabbed his plastic tonfas and hissed out, "Herbivore, for defacing my painting, I will _bite you to death."_

And well…. The rest they say is history.

* * *

Hibari Seiji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed exasperatedly. "Kyoya, what did I tell you this morning?" he asked.

Kyoya frowned and looked away.

"Look at me, Kyoya." His father said sternly. Kyoya reluctantly stared at him. "I told you not to hurt anyone, did I? So, why did you attack that kid?"

Kyoya opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by his father-

"And no, I don't want to hear anything about how he was an annoying herbivore or anything like that."

Kyoya closed his mouth shut. There is no reason for him to defend himself when his Carnivorous father won't even listen to him. Now to think of it, this is the reason why he left his house as soon as he entered Middle School and bought his own apartment. He felt suffocated living in his childhood home under his father. He never understood why he felt so….. _restricted_ when he was living with is parents, and only when he joined as the Vongola Cloud Guardian he understood why he felt so agitated and claustrophobic when he lived under his father's watchful eyes in his childhood home. It is because he was a true cloud, and a Cloud is free and independent. A Cloud does not like to be bound or restricted.

It's really no wonder he never got along with his father, much…

Seiji waited for his son's reply, but it never came. Kyoya just stared at him as if he was staring at a particularly annoying bug and did not reply. Sighing in frustration, Hibari Seiji turned to Kyoya's Teacher and bowed in apology. "I apologize on Kyoya's behalf." Seiji said apologetically. "Kyoya is a troubling child, and I understand you have your hands full with other children. I can't say that he won't do it again, because I know that this is not possible and no amount of lectures or punishments would make Kyoya do otherwise." He then chuckled sheepishly and said, "Though, I will try to make him understand."

The teacher smiled uneasily and shook her head. "I completely understand, Hibari-san, it's not your fault." She said, "You are a wonderful father, taking care of your son even with your tiring job –honestly not many parents try as much as you do. I'm sure Kyoya is just going through a phase, and he will overcome it soon." She then ruffled Kyoya's hair, and Kyoya bristled. He _did not_ like being touched. _At all_. "Ne, Kyoya?"

"Don't touch me, herbivore." He growled at her. She –thankfully- backed off.

"Kyoya!" His father scolded him.

"Tch," he grumbled and walked out of the Teacher's Office, ignoring his father. He hated being stuck in this small body and being treated like a kid. He was a full grown man, a fearsome Mafioso, Vongola's Cloud Guardian and not a five year old. He _hated_ being treated like this.

No one took him seriously. They just thought he was a difficult child, a trouble maker –a kid with way too much violence tendencies. They didn't understand him. They never did.

He would never admit it, but he missed his famiglia –his family. They didn't question his strange personality, instead, they had accepted him with open arms. And even if they fought and argued with each other (most times it was Kyoya and Mukuro, with Ryohei's loud exclamations in background as Hayato yelled to "Knock it off you idiots!" and Takeshi's laughter, Lambo's chuckles and Tsuna's "I'm so done with this shit" sighs) they were much more united than even the Arcobalaeno. They were a Team, a family, and even if they were fighting amongst each other most of the time, they would make anyone pay a _hundredfold_ who had the _gall_ to hurt one of their own.

There was no Tsuna here to smile compassionately at him when he was being a tad too difficult than normal, no Hayato to yell at him for being lazy but would still do his paperwork; no Takeshi to drag him out for drinks; no Lambo to pull pranks on him – _or offer a grape candy when he was in one of his 'moods'_ ; no Ryohei to challenge him to a spar to divert his attention; no Mukuro to irritate the hell out of him; no Chrome to offer tea after he beats the crap out of others.

They weren't here with him. He was all alone….

 _What he wouldn't give to be back with them…._

* * *

For the stunt he pulled at school, he was grounded for the next few days. He wouldn't be allowed to go out of his house for the next two days. And considering the fact that he had been suspended for School for two days, it made carrying out the punishment easier. Not that Kyoya minded, considering he got time to straighten things out and figure out what to do next.

It is highly unlikely that other guardians too had traveled back like he had. If they had, they would've already approached him- _the Vongola Guardians were many things, but subtle, they were not_. Especially Tsuna. The Vongola Decimo was a pure Sky who cared too much for his Guardians. He would have been the first one to approach Kyoya- considering he knew all too well that Hibari Kyoya did _not_ like crowding. There was no way _Kyoya_ would approach anyone on his own. So yes, Tsuna'd have been the first one to approach him – _if Ryohei wasn't there first_. _Because Heavens knows that the loud Sun Herbivore cannot keep any secret._

Besides, he had ended up in past after he died, right? So, unless they _too_ had died during the raid against the enemy famiglia, there's no way they would be back in the past with him –at least, that's what he has concluded.

So that means his fellow Guardians did not remember him. This made things a bit difficult. It means he could change things if he wasn't careful, and it could have serious consequences- butterfly effect and all. _How annoying._

So, he shouldn't approach his fellow guardians if he wants to keep the timeline somewhat same, or else things would change – _and he knew how much things get fucked up when you mess with past or future_ (courtesy of the Lightening herbivore's impromptu use of ten-year bazooka as well as the FUBAR trip to the future that ended with the big ass fight against Byakuran and his Six Funeral wreaths.)-so approaching his fellow Guardians is a big no-no.

…Dammit, why is he feeling so distressed over something so stupid? So what if he can't approach his fellow guardians for now? He will just have to wait for Sky Omnivore's demonic tutor to arrive, and then he can approach them. _And that's a decade later…_

Gah! Kyoya can wait. _Of course he can_. He can be patient when he wants to be. He won't approach them for now, and only watch over them from afar. Yes, he can do that. He can do patient.

-But the truth is, Kyoya is impatient and stubborn and independent and so, _so_ possessive. Watching over his fellow guardians, and restraining himself from approaching him will _kill_ him, and he knows it.

But he will try, so that he does not fuck up the future of his family.

(He should've known it's a lost cause, because _nothing_ goes right for a Vongola Guardian. Because wherever a Vongola Guardian goes, chaos follows them like a lost puppy.

He blamed the Sky Omnivore and his crappy brand of luck, because Kyoya had never been this unlucky _until_ he met Sawada Tsunayoshi and his Demonic Tutor –who happens to _thrive_ in Chaos. This is all Tsuna's fault-

-Because _of course_ it is.)

* * *

When Kyoya's punishment finally ended, he was sent to school with a light slap on the wrist –courtesy of his mother- and a long ass lecture to behave –by his Carnivore father. His plastic tonfas had been confiscated as a reminder to not use violence for every little thing that irritates him – _his father's words, not his_ \- which only made him even more annoyed. Kyoya would often sit in the back, away from all the baby herbivores. During lunch or group activities, he would either hide in a corner – _a valiant attempt to not interact with children and get annoyed at their ridiculous behavior_ \- or would skip classes to inspect the Elementary school's corridors and shooed off the kids who were out of their own classes and crowding the hallways (Pot calling kettle black at it's finest, not that anyone would tell him that. Tch, Herbivores. Rain Omnivore would have pointed it out that very second, with a cheery laughter-he was just like that, lacking self-preservation skills and all.) The teachers didn't know whether to call him out for skipping classes himself or thank him for getting other children to get back to their classes. In the end, they left him alone.

So, usually Kyoya would be found stalking in the Corridors of Namimori Elementary School, and if he's bored enough, he would be on his rounds on the streets of Namimori –which was a habit ingrained from his past life. The first few times he had been on rounds and had bitten some unsuspecting fool to death (What? They were vandalizing Namimori's property!) his father had been exasperated, but he let him continue it, considering he was making his job easier –being a Detective in the police force is a headache and half on it's own (Seiji's words, not his… though he could understand. If it is anything like being the head of an secret intelligence organization for Mafia, well….. he had a damn good idea how much exhausting the job can be)\- and it also acted as a way for Kyoya to take out his anger – _and in turn spare his herbivore classmates who were no fun to bite to death._ This means he got less phone calls from school, and well, Seiji would take chances whenever he got them.

So, now, Kyoya had a tentative reputation of his own –something along the lines of "Demon child"-not that he cared. Walking around the streets of Namimori was… relaxing in it's own way. Even if the infrastructure has been reverted to decades older than what he remembered it to be, it was still Namimori –with it's friendly people – _with a few assholes in the mix_ \- as well as the odd things that usually happen here which people shrug off with a comment about "Goddamn Namimori" and nothing else (something he hadn't understood until one Sawada Tsunayoshi started running around in his boxer shorts, screaming "REBORN!" and with a fire on his forehead. Namimori attracted the weirdest people. _There must be something in the water here…_ )

This was his town –however strange it may be, or how many weirdos it attracted, it didn't matter. Namimori was _his_ hometown, _his_ turf, _his_ territory. He was a true Cloud –independent and possessive- and he was damn well was proud of it. If anyone thinks they can cross _his_ territory without his permission, they will face the Cloud's wrath.

So, during one of his rounds around the streets of Namimori, when he came across a bunch people –some teens and some adults- fighting, Kyoya was ready to bite them to death. He only paused when he realized that most of the people had a fox's tattoo carved somewhere on their skin.

This tattoo…. Isn't it a symbol of the "Dancing fox" yakuza? Why were yakuza men fighting here? And who?

Wait….. he remembered something like this happened in the past too…

The men from the 'Dancing Fox' gang had cornered a Yakuza heir and his bodyguards of their rival gang, who had been on his way to some event. And the rival gang's Yakza heir happened to be-

A cry broke him out of his thoughts, and his grey eyes widened as they took in the sight of a familiar person with pompadour hairstyle –except the person was now much younger (a preteen really)- yelping in pain as a knife tore through his arm –tearing through his shirt and leaving a deep gash that will _definitely_ scar (unless healed by Sun flames)- and the boy stumbled back as he avoided another narrow slash aimed for him.

- _Kusakabe Tetsuya._

Kyoya growled. They just _did not_ hurt his second-in-command in front of his eyes.

Clouds are independent and possessive. You hurt one of their own, and face retribution. A Cloud's wrath is something to be feared of. No one hurts a Cloud's possessions and gets away with it without some heavy lasting damage.

Clenching his eyes, Kyoka reached deep inside him, and willed his Flames to wreak havoc on the fools _who hurt one of his men_. The Cloud Flames eagerly connected to him –heightening his five senses as well as flaring his emotions- as they followed his command.

"Oi," He called out to the yakuza fighting in the streets in broad daylights - _utter idiots, how come they haven't been arrested yet?-_ making them halt in their fight and shot him a wary look. He stepped towards them, and said, "For fighting on Namimori's grounds, _you will be bitten to death."_

His grey eyes flashed amethyst as purple flames exploded from his hands –and the world _burned_ as the Cloud Flames caused havoc and destroyed and hurt and _killed_ \- but _never_ once had they even touched Kusakabe or his bodyguards that were tasked to protect him.

An hour later, Kyoya walked away from that scene of utter carnage with some mirror bruises a few scratched –leaving behind bodies of people who had third degree burns, deep bleeding wounds, concussions, a few broken bones, as well as missing teeth- gaining the infamous reputation of being the "Demon child of Namimori" that made every Yakuza man around the area cower in fear, as well as a loyal follower – _more like a fanboy_ \- who happened to be a Yakuza Heir.

A week later, Kusakabe Tetsuya joined Namimori Elementary School's third grade, and to everyone's surprise- started following Kyoya around like a lost puppy and _surprisingly_ wasn't bitten to death.

Hibari Seiji was just exasperated at the sudden turn of events, while his wife Yuna was beaming with pride that her child finally made a 'friend'.

And Kyoya. He guess he was a _tad_ bit less lonely now. He might not have his fellow guardians, but it's okay. He had his second-in-command, and it's fine for now. He can wait for his fellow Guardians. He is patient, after all.

(He is not.)


	2. Natsukashii

_**Natsukashii** -_

 _*adjective*_

 _Originated from the Japanese language (なつかしい), natsukashii is the transitioning to a state of mind - nostalgia_

 _for the past, sometimes with implications of nostalgia for a flawless past that never was._

~O~

"Kyo-chan…"

Kyoya twitched a bit and swatted away at the noisy bug buzzing in his ear.

An exasperated sigh escaped from someone's lips. And then-

"Kyo-chan….. Wakey wakey~"

Kyoya grumbled and turned the other way on his bed. What a persistent fly. It really should be bitten – _more like swatted_ \- to death for disturbing his sleep.

When the persistent background noise stopped, he sighed contently and nuzzled into his fluffy blanket. So the bug finally flew off, huh? _Good riddance._

Cue a two minute silence. And then-

SWOOSH!

The blankets engulfing his child-like body were forcefully snatched, and Kyoya groaned – _not yelped, nope. Not at all. Anyone saying so would be bitten to death_ \- and opened a grey eye to glare at the culprit who snatched his warm and fluffy blankets- _his mother_ \- and growled in warning.

The woman –unperturbed with his glare- just cooed at him. "Kyo-chan, you shouldn't sleep in, especially on your birthday!" the woman then smiled beamingly at him, while still holding his fluffy blankets- to which he scowled- and said cheerily, "Happy Birthday, Kyo-chan!"

Kyoya glowered at her –and no, he was _not_ pouting, however much his mother squealed at him for doing so-and made grabby motion towards his fluffy blankets, which –to his indignation- were moved away from him by his mother.

"Come on, Kyo-chan!" Yuna exclaimed, her raven eyes glowing in amusement. "I even invited a special someone to visit today!"

A feeling of dread churned inside him.

What did she say? Who the hell is coming?

She hummed under her breath as she picked up her son and placed him gently on his bed. "He last visited when you were two, and had just started obsessing over animals and their position in food chain. It was really adorable watching you following your "Baby Carnivore" Uncle around like a lost puppy!"

The foreboding feeling didn't subside. Instead, it only got stronger.

This isn't possible. She must be talking about some other Carnivore. Because in his previous life, that particular carnivore hasn't met Kyoya until he was ten. So what changed?

….Maybe nothing changed. Maybe he's being paranoid for nothing. It must be someone else. Right. He is overreacting. Because it can't be the Baby storm Carnivore. _It can't-_

 _Oh gods, please don't tell him this carnivore Uncle is-_

Yuna patted Kyoya's hair and said cheerily, "Fon-nii really missed his adorable nephew, I can tell!"

THWACK!

"E-Eh?" Yuna exclaimed, bewildered, as her adorable son slammed his head against the headboard in a face-palming gesture, muttering something under his breath about "Tsuna's absurd brand of luck strikes again" and "That Spartan tutor better not have rubbed me off with his damn chaotic luck" and something along those lines…

Kyoya just missed the sane days of his life when the sun rose from the East and set from the west -and he was blissfully unaware of the existence of Sawada Tsunayoshi and his particular brand of luck.

And then _Reborn_ happened and his life was thrown into a mess –an exasperatingly annoying mess that made him call his sanity goodbye.

Oh, how he missed the old days when he actually was –somewhat-sane.

(No he didn't. Sanity is overrated anyways. When you're a Vongola –and especially a Guardian of one Sawada Tsunayoshi- you quickly learn to throw sanity out of a window and welcome the madness with open arms.

He was sure none of them were actually wholly sane, but it didn't matter, because they accepted each other just the way they were. Vongola Madness is just an added bonus with Reborn's particular brand of chaos in their life- to the utter pleasure of the Demonic Tutor.

Not like Kyoya would have it any other way.)

* * *

Breakfast was a tense affair, mostly because the youngest Hibari couldn't stop glaring at the Cursed infant sitting before him, daintily eating his breakfast in a noble manner. Hibari Seiji and his wife Yuna shared a worried glance, since their son hadn't exploded in anger and bitten the offender to death – _like he usually did to people who annoyed him for one reason to another_ \- and instead was just glowering in…. hostility? Resentment? – _no, it's more like annoyance_ \- at the infant dressed in a red Chinese robe, with a red pacifier hanging from his neck.

The atmosphere stayed tense for the duration of the breakfast, as the Storm Arcobalaeno didn't even glance at his glaring nephew even once, who was really suppressing the urge to grab his tonfas and drag the storm Arcobalaeno for a good spar.

It wasn't until that the red robed infant placed his chopsticks down after eating his breakfast that he deigned a glance at his –very irritable- nephew.

"Kyoya." He greeted the now six year old in a pleasant tone.

Kyoya stared at the his carnivore uncle –who was once again, a baby- with narrow grey eyes. The Storm Arcobalaeno was still the sane –calm, pleasant and polite to a default (until you somehow provoke his anger, coz then he'd be very fierce and aggressive –and you'd wish he would stop kicking your ass to the kingdom come)- even though he had been chibified. Honestly, he had been too used to seeing the adult!Fon as he grew up at a faster right –like the others- after the curse was lifted from them during the last decade of his life. It was quite… strange to see him chibified – _again._

Contrarily to popular belief, Kyoya didn't exactly hate Fon. He might have actually hated him–once upon a time when Kyoya was an impressionable child who watched his mother die _slowly,_ wishing her brother would just visit her once before it's too late (and he _did_ visit them, but on the day of her funeral. Needless to say, Kyoya was furious. This utter _idiota_ didn't even come to visit his sister even once when she needed him the most- _and for what?_ For getting out of that stupid Chinese version of mafia syndicate and making sure his sister and her family won't be dragged in his mess? Ha, the joke's on him! His goodwill came way too late. The sister he had worked to the bone to ensure her happiness was now dead, and he didn't even fulfill her last wish even once.)\- but now? Not so much. Especially after he had grudgingly accepted being Fon's representative –for the sake of his dead mother and nothing else- and after that they had a big fight – _later on joined in by his fellow guardians when they came to know the real reason he hated Fon_ (he had to literally kick their asses to get them out of his way –because even if they meant good, the utter _morons_ only caused more chaos on the battlefield than being actually helpful. Fucking idiots, the lot of them.)\- that hate mellowed out into annoyance and grudging respect.

Besides, his mother was alive right now, and if a day like that ever came when something like that is even remotely repeated, he will move both heaven and hell to bring that stupid Uncle of his back home – _even if he has to do it kicking and screaming , and causing general chaos_ \- all the way. Besides, he won't let her die so soon -especially if he has any say in it.

Because after all, Kyoya isn't an innocent, impressionable child anymore. He is mafiosco, a Vongola Cloud guardian – _Tsunayoshi's Cloud Guardian_ \- through and through. He will destroy the whole world before he could let his own precious people be harmed while he is literally a sitting duck.

"Kyoya?"Fon's pleasant voice – _that had an undertone of concern in them_ \- snapped him out of his trance. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Uncle." He mumbled distractedly as took a sip of his soup.

"…."

"….."

Kyoya frowned as his Uncle stiffened and his calm demeanor shattered slightly as his raven eyes widened slightly. The reaction of his parents though, was quite hilarious.

Both of their eyes were _literally_ popping out of their sockets in a hilarious manner, while their jaws hit the floor. They were staring him in disbelief, as if Kyoya had suddenly turned into a baby herbivore.

"Am I dreaming?" Hibari Seiji mumbled distractedly. "This _is_ my son, right?" Seiji shot his son a concerned look and asked, "Kyoya, are you alright? Were you hit on your head today?"

His mother blinked in confusion and looked around. "Are my ears defective- because I think I just heard my adorable little son call my brother 'Uncle'?" She stared at her husband and asked distractedly, "Honey, I think I need to get my ears checked."

"Then I need to do so to, because I heard the same thing." Seiji said dryly.

"Or maybe it's a sign that the doom's day is nearing." Yuna piped in with a beaming smile, "Or maybe we are just going insane!"

Fon watched his dear sister and brother-in-law's hilarious conversation and chuckled. He glanced at his nephew and smiled serenely. "I think you broke them, Kyoya."

Kyoya's eye twitched at the utterly herbivore-like behavior his – _supposed carnivorous_ \- parents were displaying. He quickly grabbed his plastic tonfa and glowered at his parents –his father, mostly, because his mother is a delicate little being that needs to be protected, and no, it's not because she can kick his ass far quicker than he could say "Kamikorosu!" (and no, he is not a Mommy's boy. Nuh-uh. Anyone implying that shall be bitten to death without mercy.)\- and hissed out _, "I will bite you to death!"_

Seiji yelped as his six year old son conjured his plastic tonfas from whatever interdimensional pocket he has –it's still a mystery to him where he keeps those things on his person- and flung on to him and started beating him with the tonfas. It didn't hurt –honest- but it did injure his man's pride by being beaten by a six year old, especially in front of his lovely wife and her brother –never mind that this six year old happens to be his own son.

Yuna sighed in exasperated fondness and waved her hand in a dismissive manner –totally ignoring the background noise of the fight between father and son- and said, "Never mind, False alarm."

Fon chuckled in amusement. The decision to visit his sister and her family in Japan had been a good one.

* * *

Kyoya's eye twitched as he scowled- _and no, he was not pouting. Nuh-uh. Not at all._

"Kyo-chan, you look so cute when you pout!" his mother cooed as she pulled his cheeks, making him glower at her.

"Don't be so hostile, Kyoya," Fon said serenely. "It's not as bad as you think it is."

But it is. It _really_ is. Because somehow, his mother got the idea that Kyoya really missed his Carnivore Uncle – _she is still not letting go of the fact that he called the Baby Carnivore "Uncle". It was a slip-up he was really regretting_ \- and hence threatened Fon to spend time with Kyoya and the baby Carnivore – _who was as socially awkward as him, but fools others with his serene smiles and polite voice such that everyone thinks otherwise_ \- being utterly lost at what to do with a pint-sized kid, decided that it would be a good idea to get Kyoya a birthday gift, and took the now six year old with him.

 _To a toy shop._

Is it the Universe's way of flipping him a middle finger for being such a shit to his Sky and fellow guardians in his previous life? Because seriously, who would be cruel enough to drag him into a toy shop _filled with baby herbivores and their fake carnivore parents_ with his not-so-innocent (and damn kickass) mother and passive-aggressive Uncle who happens to be the Storm Arcobalaeno? This is a recipe for disaster!

His eyes glanced around the screaming baby-herbivores and their cooing parents and shot a flat look at Fon. Yeah, _no_. He can do without birthday gifts, thank you very much.

Kyoya discretely stepped backwards, and was almost to the door-

"And where do you think you're going, _bambino_?" Hibari Yuna said a bit too cheerfully as she grabbed her son by the collar of his shirt and held him up in air as if he were a disgruntled puppy. Kyoya struggled a bit, wiggling this and that way to free himself from her hold, before slumping in defeat.

"…..Toilet?" he answered weakly, and stared at his mother with wide, grey eyes and a cute pout, seeming like a cute small animal- he wasn't below using Tsunayoshi's (in)famous kicked-puppy look that had enemy mafiosco eating out of his hands –literally and metaphorically. (which in turn reduced his guardians to a cackling mess as they rolled on the ground in laughter. Seeing Tsuna wrap the enemy mafiosco around his fingers with just a few words and cute looks was an art of it's own. His fluffy hair and wide eyes certainly helped with the cuteness factor. The other person doesn't even remember he is talking to the Boss of the Bloodiest famiglia in Mafia before Tsuna has them agreeing to all his terms and then activates his HDW mode, making them realise that they have been conned. Even Mammon admitted defeat before Tsuna's conning skills, and that's saying something.)

Too bad for Kyoya that his mother was immune to his cute looks, since her reply was-

"I'm sure you can hold on for a few minutes longer, Kyo-chan."

 _Oh drat._

Kyoya scowled as Yuna dropped him off in midst of the toy zone, right in the middle of screaming kids, kiddy robots, toy trains, giant sized teddy bears and creepy looking dolls. Hibari was _this_ close to grabbing his plastic tonfas and rendering every single annoying thing here to pieces.

Hightailing out of the toy zone faster than Ryohei could exclaim "EXTREME!", Kyoya wandered to a corner of the toy shop and remained hiding in shadows – _so as his mother doesn't find him and drag him to other children to make friends._ Gods, it was bad enough that these baby herbivores were crowding and he was barely restraining the urge to hit them and be done with is. Why did his mother think it was a good idea to bring him to an area crowded with herbivores?!

After somewhat calming his nerves, Kyoya decided to look around the toy shop – _because he knew that if he doesn't buy at least one blasted thing from here, he would be forced to stay here until he does so. His mother can be vindictive like that._

So, Kyoya distractedly wandered around the toy shop. He didn't know how much time had passed, but somehow he ended up scouting around the shop twice, and somehow ended up in front of the soft toys section. He would have moved on, if not for the cute lion cub –having soft light brown fur- staring at him with his amber button like eyes among the pile he had been discarded in-

-and for a moment he thought it resembled his Sky a bit.

A pang of homesickness struck him and Kyoya didn't remember what happened after that as he was too busy trying to not let the crippling feeling of grief and despair fill him.

(He missed them. He missed them so much… he knew he shouldn't, because they were still here- still alive, and well, and _oh-so-innocent and cute kids again_. But… they weren't the people he remembered them as. And it _hurt_ , it hurt a lot. Because it's a possibility that they might never turn into the amazing people he knew they were if he changes anything-even _the Pineapple carnivore and Lightening herbivore, and that's saying something since they were so annoying and should be bitten to death for all the madness they unleash with just their mere existence!_ -and Kyoya feared he might change them if he meddles with time-

-and Kyoya doesn't want that, at all. He want _his_ Sky, _his_ Storm, _his_ Rain, _his_ Sun, _his_ Lightening, _his_ twin Mists. He wants his own loved ones back –not some cheap imitation of them.

Is that too much to ask?)

It wasn't until an hour later that Fon found his nephew in the soft toys section, surrounded by various soft toys – _a cute lion cub with orange fur, a goofily grinning blue eared dog, a red eyed grumpy looking cat, a baby kangaroo with yellow headband, a mischievous looking cow, a creepy looking owl with indigo feathers, and a dove with pretty dark blue buttoned eyes_ \- clutching the soft-toy cub in his arms, his body shuddering minutely.

It took a better of two hours to convince Kyoya to calm down and another half-an-hour to make the brat stumble out of his make shift den of soft toys. In the end, he had to buy every single one of those damn things to make his nephew even move an inch from that spot.

Yuna was –of course- pleased with the outcome, considering she marked off this Uncle-nephew bonding time as successful.

And well, Fon had to admit, it _did_ bring the two of them closer –if only for the sole fact that only Fon remembered the names of every single one of his new soft toys – _the lion cub was "Natsu", the grumpy cat "Goku", the goofy dog "Yama", the cow "Ushi", the Kangaroo "Ryo", the dove "Doku",and the creepy owl was named "Pineapple"_ \- since Yuna always messed their names up, and Seiji didn't bother to remember most of their names, since he considered that Kyoya would soon grow out of it.

(To their surprise, he never did.)

* * *

Kyoya buried his head in the soft furry fabric of the Natsu and took shuddering breaths. he thought he was okay, that he could deal with their absence. he thought he was patient enough to wait till the wheels of fate started moving again, and then he'll be back with them. He thought he strong enough st stay away from them. He thought he was fine.

(He was not.)

He never believed in crap like fate and destiny and all the shit that Checker-face used to spout. He believed in making your own future with your own strength. But now...

He didn't like to admit it, but he was terrified. He was changing things, and even if they weren't anything major enough - _like Fon's presence when Before the Storm Arcobalaeno hadn't even visited once until he was ten_ \- he knew how such small things impact the future in one way or another. he would know, after all, if he and his fellow guardians had learned anything from their trip to the future-that-never-was, it was that future isn't set in stone. It can change with even slightest of changes in the past.

And Kyoya didn't want that. he didn't want his precious people to change. He wanted them the way he remembered them as.

So, even if it kills him -or drives him mad, whichever comes first- he will stay away from them. he will not implicate their future just for a moment of closure. Kyoya was a Cloud, and Clouds are possessive and selfish and he was going to be downright selfish -just because he can- and stay far away from them -if it means they will turn out into the amazing people he knew they could be.

So, to indulge in his own selfishness and fantasies of the future, Kyoya vowed to not interfere in the lives of their lives.

(Now, if only they could get the memo too...)

* * *

~O~

 _ **EXTRA-**_

His eyes darted around warily as he hunched his shoulders closer to himself. He didn't remember this place. Everyone was so big – _like Mama_ \- and he didn't recognize anyone here. Not that anyone even looked at him.

He had been holding his Mama's hand a few minutes ago –and then his eyes had fell on the sweets lined up in the bakery in the opposite side of the street- and the next thing he knew, his Mama was nowhere to be found. His Mama was gone, and he was all alone here.

His lower lip trembled as his eyes welled up with tears and they soon were rolling down his cheeks. He sniffed and sobbed quietly as he shrunk into himself as the passer-by glanced at him curiously.

 _'This is scary…'_ he whimpered. _'Where is Mama…..?'_

The strange orange fire inside his head that he usually sees in his dreams started nudging him towards right, whispering in glee about something. The fire wasn't hot and never burned him – _like how Mama said the fire on the stove could if he wasn't careful_ \- instead, it was warm – _like the hot chocolate mama makes for him_. It was a nice warm. He liked the warmth of his fire. It also helped him remember things, and helped him out when he was in trouble, so he guess the fire is nice.

He didn't understand why the fire was jumping gleefully as if it had found a long-lost toy, but he listened to it and followed it's instructions. After all, the fire never put him in danger, instead, it has always helped him, even protected him. He trusted the strange warm fire.

The fire whispered to take a right turn, and then left, and then another left. After that, he kept on walking straight. He noticed the big people – _like Mama_ \- weren't much around here. There were fewer shops here, and the further he went, the lesser people were around.

He blinked his eyes when he found himself standing in front of a playground. There weren't many children around, considering it was still noon. He was confused why the fire wanted him to come to the playground, but he complied with it. He stepped into the playground, and looked around. He looked at the few kids playing on the swings and the sand box, and it wasn't until his eyes fell on a lone bench in a corner of the playground that the orange fire in his head started bouncing in ecstasy.

His feet moved on their own and soon, he found himself standing before the lone bench –which, actually wasn't so lone, now that you think about it. There was another kid sleeping on the bench, with his sleeved arm shading his eyes from the harsh sunlight.

His orange fire crowed in delight. _'Friend!'_ It exclaimed in glee. ' _Nice….. Warm… Friend!'_

The orange fire tried to escape and rush towards the sleeping kid, but he stopped it before it could wake the other person. What if the other kid didn't like the orange fire disturbing it's sleep?

"Herbivore," a low growl escaped from the sleeping kid's lips –though how he knew he was standing there without even glancing at him was a mystery to him- as he hissed out. "Don't crowd around or I'll bite you to death."

He jumped as his eyes widened in fear, and he whimpered. ' _Scary…..'_ He thought. _'He is so scary…..'_

The orange fire seemed to take offense at that as it thrashed in denial _. 'No...! Cloud… good….. Friend!'_ It tried to explain, but he didn't understand what it wanted to say to him.

He would have gotten away from the scary child, but his orange fire seemed to have taken a liking to him- and it begged to get nearer to the Cloud.

He bit his lower lip in conflict. What should he do? He was looking for Mama, but the orange fire that always helped him brought him to this scary kid. Why? Will he help?

But… he is so scary! What if he hurts him?

 _'No….'_ the orange fire flashed in indignant. ' _Cloud…. good… no hurt…..'_

He poked his fingers nervously. Well… if his fire says he won't hurt him, then he should ask the scary kid for help, right? Besides, the fire has never put him in harm's way, so, it's must be fine, right?

Gathering up his courage, he spoke softly, "A-Ano…." He whispered. "T-Tsu-kun can't find Mama… can you help Tsu-kun?"

The kid suddenly stiffened and sat up straight quickly, and he wondered how he didn't hurt his back with the speed he sat up. The other kid was now staring at him with a startled expression, and he barely registered the minute trembling of the boy's hands, since he was too fixated on the kid's eyes to notice.

The other kid's eyes were a beautiful shade of grey –with specks of purple in them- and glittered beautifully like a pearl moonstone. He decided he really liked that shade of grey.

 _'Pretty…_ ' he thought distractedly as he couldn't help but stare at the glittering grey eyes that had now narrowed on him. His orange fire just curled happily inside him at that thought.

Pretty grey eyes scanned him from top to bottom, looking at him as if they were trying to print his image in his memory. He felt a bit restless, and shifted a bit uncomfortably, but did not step back warily – _like he would have if it were anyone else staring at him_. For some reason he wasn't actually afraid of this kid – _feeling like he would never hurt him_ \- and his orange fire only hummed in agreement.

A companionable silence settled over the two, which was only broken by the grey eyed kid a few moments later. "….Baby Omnivore." He mumbled reluctantly, as if it pained him to call him 'Omnivore'.

What is an Omnivore anyways? Can you eat it?

The other kid cleared his throat and tensed his shoulders as he seemed to collect himself from whatever trance he was in, and raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you need, Baby omnivore?"

"Tsu-kun can't find Tsu-kun's Mama. Tsu-kun's Mama is lost." He said sadly.

The other kid's lips twitched upwards. "Are you sure _you_ aren't the one who is lost?" he asked gruffly, sounding a bit exasperated.

He just blinked his wide brown eyes, and tilted his head curiously. _What did he mean….?_

The other kid's ear reddened as he darted his pretty grey eyes around, and for some reason he looked flustered as he mumbled about "damn omnivore and his cute looks", and, "I can't bite him to death if he looks like an innocent small animal". He didn't understand much, but since his orange fire was bouncing as if it were cackling in glee, he guessed it wasn't anything bad.

He hesitatingly grabbed the other kid's sleeve and tugged it a bit. His eyes watered and he sniffed. "Please, help Tsu-kun."

Grey eyes stared at him –as if seeing into his very soul- and he poked nervously when the other kid didn't reply.

"Your name, baby Omnivore." The other kid sighed and then asked gruffly, "What is your name?"

He answered with a small smile. "Tsu-kun is Tsu-kun!"

His fire rolled inside him in laughter as pretty grey eyes stared up skyward and glared at the cloudless, blue sky for some reason. The grey eyes glanced back at him after a while, and he was asked again-

"What is your age?"

He counted with his fingers and then held it out to the other kid. "Tsu-kun is Four!"

"You are holding up five fingers, baby Omnivore." The kid with grey eyes said dryly.

His cheeks reddened and he stared at the ground in embarrassment. The fire thrived inside him as if it were giggling at him.

The kid with grey eyes sighed and then grabbed his hand. "Come with me." he ordered and walked off, with Tsuna stumbling behind him like a lost duckling. They made their way towards the other end of the street where an older boy with strange hairstyle was walking towards them with a cone of ice cream in his hands, surrounded by scary looking big people that made Tsuna flinch in terror.

"Kyo-san!" the older boy beamed as he stared at the grey eyed kid and bowed deeply. "Here's the ice cream you wanted."

The kid holding his hand grunted questioningly.

"It's blueberry soft cream flavored, just what you had asked for." He reassured the grey eyed child. The older boy then noticed Tsuna, and asked, "Oh, and who might you be?"

Tsuna shrunk behind the grey eyed boy, and clung to his dark jacket.

"….Sawada Tsunayoshi." He murmured reluctantly as he took the ice cream cone from him. "He is lost."

Tsuna blinked his eyes, confused. How did he know his full name? He didn't tell him, right?

"His mother, Sawada Nana, must be around here. Look for her." He ordered the older boy, who saluted him respectfully.

"Hai, Kyo-san!" the older boy said as he pulled out his phone and started dialing a number and talking to someone from it. Fifteen minutes later, Tsuna found himself in his mother's arms as she sobbed and babbled about "Where were you Tsu-kun?" and "I was so scared! Don't do that again, okay?"

The older boy reassured his mother when she thanked him for finding her son, saying it wasn't much. He even asked one of the scary looking men behind him to drop him and his mother off to their house.

The grey eyed boy slipped away from the crowd of scary looking men surrounding him, and he wouldn't have noticed if the orange fire wasn't prodding him to follow the 'Cloud'.

Tsuna decided to listen to his fire once again as he slipped his hand from his mother's hold, and ran towards the departing figure of the boy.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed to the grumpy looking boy, who was holding a blueberry flavored ice cream cone. "Tsu-kun found Tsu-kun's Mama because of you."

The grey eyed boy nodded hesitantly, and said after some moments of silence, "Don't get lost again, baby Omnivore."

"Uh-huh!" Tsuna nodded in understanding.

They both stared at each other in silence. "Here," the grey eyed boy said gruffly as he shoved the ice cream cone in his hands. "I'm sure you'll like it."

Saying this, he walked away quickly –and even if Tsuna's fire was urging him to follow him, he didn't, because it didn't seem like the grey eyed boy wanted him to follow him. it's more like he was escaping from him.

The orange fire knew that too, but it still wanted to cling to the other boy. He didn't want to let go of his friend.

Tsuna agreed with it.

"Thank you, Cloud-san!" he called out happily after the departing figure of the grey eyed boy, who stumbled as soon as he heard his words. "Tsu-kun will find you again, okay?"

The grey eyed boy turned and hissed out something along the lines of, "Don't, or I'll bite you to death!" but Tsuna wasn't afraid.

Sure, the grey eyed boy was scary, but he wasn't that bad. Huh, his fire was right. Cloud-san is a good person.

He will definitely find him again in future and make him his friend.

The orange fire bounced and cackled in delight inside him as it approved his decision.

~O~

* * *

 **A/N:- Sentient sky flames coupled with Hyper Intuition makes a good combination for trolling others. Poor Kyoya, he is stuck with our adorable Tsu-kun and his mischievous Sky Flames. They're going to stick with him like a super glue. Am I the only one who finds that so adorable?**


	3. Henotic

**Henotic**

 _Adjective. (comparative more **henotic** , superlative most **henotic** ) _

~Of or pertaining to the production of peace and harmony; unifying~

* * *

Kyoya didn't know why he tempted fate. He just had to jinx it, didn't he?

Everything was going well. Everything was fine. He was fine. He had decided to not meddle with his fellow guardians lives, hadn't he? And his plan was working too!

And then one Sawada Tsunayoshi literally stumbled into his life –once again-and shattered the –faux- peace and quiet of his life.

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _"Herbivore," he had threatened fiercely as a baby-herbivore approached him. Tch, why do herbivores like to crowd around so much? What were they, some cattle?! And why the hell can't they stay away from their predator, and are drawn like moths to a flame?! Huffing angrily, he didn't even deign the herbivore a glance, and decided to resume his napping and catch on some much needed sleep while Kusakabe returns with his dessert. "Don't crowd around or I'll bite you to death."_

 _The herbivore was still standing there, and not moving away like he had been told. Ignoring the herbivore for now –he will bite the idiot off if he tries anything- and drifted off to sleep. He was almost asleep when a child-like –familiar- voice whispered,_

 _"A-Ano…." He whispered. "T-Tsu-kun can't find Mama… can you help Tsu-kun?"_

 _He sat straight so quickly as if he had been suddenly hit by Lambo's lightning bolt, (Pineapple Carnivore would've laughed his ass off at his reaction) and he whipped his head towards the side and-_

 _-he wasn't imagining it. It's him. It's really him._

 ** _His Sky._**

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _His –baby- Sky was lost. Figures. He had always been hopeless like that. His brain was screaming at him to be logical, to dump the kid to some unsuspecting fake-carnivore adults and back the heck off before he destroys the timeline or does something equally moronic. But-_

 _-he couldn't. because this was his Sky- even if he was chibified and does not remember him at all. And there was something in those molten amber eyes that drew him in. It wasn't quite the look that often grazed his Sky's face when he was in his HDW mode, but it was….. similar. And holy shit he was startled that his Sky can access his Sky Flames._

 _And the way they were attracting his Cloud Flames –who were getting even more difficult to control by the passing second since they wanted to leap at the Baby sky's flames and blend with them again –to bask again in the warm glow of such pure orange flames…. To have a home once again-_

 _But he couldn't. It would be detrimental for his sky's health to form a bond so young. Especially when his own cloud Flames were so much stronger –and a headache to control- and would only stress his Baby Sky with a guardian bond at such young age. His Flames haven't developed fully yet. Harmonization –or any other attempt for bonding or anything of the like shouldn't be done –or forced- on a Baby Sky – at least until they're in their teenage years. Otherwise it can affect the mental health of the Sky._

 _So, Kyoya decided to get his baby Sky to his mother, and then hightail out of there. He had planned to disappear in the shadows. His Sky was young anyways. He would forget about him a few days later -and Kyoya won't do anything about it, even if it makes his chest ache in ways he hadn't experienced before._ (His own Flames were rattling angrily against his control. They wanted to bask in the warmth of their Sky's Flames, they didn't want to be kept away from him after so long. Besides, they hated being retrained. )

 _Besides, it would be better this way. His Sky should forget all about him, at least for now. That would mean things will stay the same like they had been in his previous life._

 _Of course, his Baby sky had to choose that moment to crumble all his –false- hopes with his next words-_

 _"Thank you, Cloud-san! Tsu-kun will find you again, okay?"_

 _Kyoya's face morphed into horror and disbelief as his Flames curled inside him pleasantly at their Sky's words, bouncing in joy. While his Flames were happy that their Sky hasn't abandoned them, Kyoya despaired the fact that if the Baby sky really acts on his words, and he will have to say goodbye to the normalcy. Such a shame, really, he had been getting used to peace and quiet these days as compared to the chaotic days spent as a Vongola Cloud guardian._

(A lie.)

 _And what is with 'Cloud-san' anyways? If he really wanted to call him something, then wouldn't 'carnivore' be better?!_

 _"Don't," he snapped at his Baby Omnivore Sky, "or I'll bite you to death!"_

 _The giggle that escaped his Baby Sky's lips didn't really assure him much._

 _._

 _._

 _._

And true to his words, he just kept coming back again and again.

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _"Cloud-san, how are you today?!" The four year old chirped happily waved at him from the roof of his home as soon as he saw Kyoya passing by his house for his regular patrol duty._

 _Kyoya glowered at him, and snapped "Get off the roof, Baby omnivore!"_

 _The four year old child giggled amusingly –and is it his imagination or did his eyes actually flash orange?- and asked, "Oh, like this?" He tentatively took a step towards – **and fuck he's going to fall off the ledge if he gets closer-**_

 _His flames flailed inside him in panic –and Kyoya wasn't any far off as his heart thudded in his chest in fear. "Get back in through the window, moron!" he snapped at him, afraid he would hurt himself if he falls down._

 _His –Baby- Sky paused, and tilted his head as he asked in a cutely, innocent tone, "Ne, ne, Cloud-san, what does moron means? Tsu-kun doesn't understand."_

 _"Not the time, **you. utter. idiota!"** he grumbled as he pointedly stared at the window, and back at him to-and-fro. The four year old Sawada Tsunayoshi pouted, before complying as he stumbled back on the red tiles over the roof and got into his room through the window._

 _"Don't play on the roof, baby Omnivore." He glared at his menace of a Sky._

 _"Only if you promise to come play with Tsu-kun!" the child demanded._

 _"No." he denied the very moment._

 _Tsuna narrowed his eyes –and…. yup, his eyes definitely flashed orange- as he chirped happily, "Do you want Tsu-kun to come down **the direct way?"**_

 _Kyoya gaped at him in disbelief. Was this baby herbivore threatening him? Where did he get the guts to do that? His Sky never did that –more like he couldn't. Where did this pint-sized brat get the courage to threaten him?!_

 _He just want to disagree – **just because he is Hibari Kyoya and no one threatens Hibari Kyoya and gets away with it**. Except…. It isn't just anyone. It's his Sky….. his Baby Sky. If anyone has the right to threaten him, then it's his sky._

 _…..Or so his Flames seem to convey to him._

 _Letting out a frustrated groan, Kyoya exclaimed, "Ugh, fine!" he then glared at the child and added on, "But don't you dare pull anymore suicidal stunts like this, Baby Omnivore!"_

 _The four year old child blinked at him innocently and asked, "What's suu-sii-del?"_

 _Kyoya groaned as he rubbed his temple. He swore his Sky was pulling his leg for just the heck of it._

("This is nice…." Tsuna giggled happily as he watched Cloud-san huffing and puffing from the window of his room. "Cloud-san is so easy to tease!"

The orange fire inside his head agreed wholeheartedly as it rolled around in laughter and cackled in glee.)

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _His Sky was stalking him. Kami, he had never thought he was actually say this with all seriousness, because even the mere thought of speaking about Sawada Tsunayoshi and stalking in the same sentence is blasphemy. But it's true. His -Baby- Sky was stalking him._

 _And he was as subtle as a drunk Sasagawa Ryohei –which means, not at all._

 _Kyoya let out a suffering sigh and shot a glare at the child hiding –and failing spectacularly at that- behind a street light. "What are you following me, Baby Omnivore?"_

 _The child peeked his head out from behind the electric pole –and the action was so adorable that Kyoya had an urge to click a photo of him (for future blackmail purposes, of course)- and answered, "Tsu-kun is not following you! Tsu-kun is just going the same way!"_

 _…..that doesn't even make sense! If he was going the same way, then shouldn't he **not** hide like some pathetic herbivore?_

 _You know what, he isn't even going to ask. Nope. Nuh-uh. That way lies madness._

 _The how's and why's of Sawada Tsunayoshi's actions will forever remain a mystery to him, and if he's lucky, they'll just stay the same for a loooooooooooong time._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Kyoya wasn't sure how he ended up in this situation –he was sure it has something to do with his mother who somehow came to know that he's being stalked -by a cute kid no less(she found this quite adorable) and decided that a play-date is a must for Kyoya and his new friend._

 _So here he was, sitting in a four year old Sawada Tsunayoshi's house, surrounded by blocks and soft toys and toy vehicles and puzzle pieces._

 _"What should we play, Cloud-san?" Tsuna asked eagerly._

 _Kyoya shot him an annoyed look. "…..Kyoya." he muttered. At the confused look of the four year old, he clarified, "Call me Kyoya."_

 _"Why?" The boy asked –and oh Kami, he actually looked honest-to-god confused. "Cloud-san is Cloud-san, why should Tsu-kun call you anything else?"_

 _Kyoya sighed in exasperation. Typical Baby-Omnivore._

 _His Baby Sky tugged his sleeves. "Ne, ne, Cloud-san, let's play…. Okay?" the boy asked with a bright smile, and the rest of Kyoya's reluctance melted away._

 _"…..Fine." he mumbled hesitantly as he eyed the toys in the room. The question is….. what should they play?_

 _Blocks? …yeah, no._

 _Soft toys?... Nope._

 _Toy vehicles?... Nuh-uh._

 _Puzzle pieces?… Are you fucking kidding me?!_

 _The look of disgust Kyoya shot at the toys of his Baby omnivore Sky spoke volumes. Tsuna just chuckled sheepishly at his look and asked uneasily, "Ano, Cloud-san…..? What does Cloud-san want to play with Tsu-kun…..?"_

 _A sudden thought occurred in his mind, and he stiffened. He immediately shook his head to forcefully No, this is a bad idea! He shouldn't meddle with fate…!_

 _But… just think of all the chaos it could cause in future…..! The Spartan Tutor will definitely approve….._

 _"Ano…" Kyoya spared his Baby Sky a glance, as the baby Omnivore stared at him with amber eyes that glowed in mischief and a small smile on his face. "Tsu-kun thinks Cloud-san had a fun idea, and Tsu-kun wants to know!"_

 _Damn his Baby Sky and his Vongola Hyperintuition._

 _Well, Kyoya was never the one to say no to his Sky anyways._

(A lie, considering he loved denying and disagreeing with anything his Sky says to him-just for the heck of it. He loved seeing the despairing look on his Sky's face as he moaned his fate for having such stubborn guardians.

He was miffed that he won't be able to see such hilarious reactions of his Sky anymore, considering this baby Sky was different than his previous –adult- version. The changes were subtle, but still there. Maybe he shouldn't tempt fate more than he already is doing…..

But he had never seen his Sky look so _alive_ before. Sure, he used to smile and laugh… but there was always an edge of weariness to them. He never threatened him passive-aggressively, never subtly bribed him with blueberry ice cream and green tea, never commented witty and sadistic comments….. There was something in this Sky that wasn't present in his previous one that he wanted to protect….. and if it turned Sawada Tsunayoshi into a different person… well, he guess only time will tell.)

 _So with a resigned sigh, Kyoya decided to inform the four year old Tsuna of his brilliant idea, "we're going to play mafia." He announced as he imagined the chaos just waiting to be unleashed, and smirked. He pointed at Tsuna and said, "You are gonna be the Boss and I-" he pointed at himself, "-will be the one to bite stupid herbivores to death who would dare to mess with you or our famigilia."_

 _For a moment, Kyoya thought the orange glimmer in Tsuna's eyes brightened as he nodded enthusiastically with a giggle –and if the giggle sounded just tad bit sadistic….. well, let it not be said that Kyoya didn't rub off on his baby Sky even a bit- and exclaimed, "It sounds nice, Cloud-san! So, what should we do?"_

 _Kyoya's smirk turned even more bloodthirsty, "First we need to train you to be Boss material, Baby Omnivore."_

 _Tsuna tilted his head curiously as he asked with tad bit of cautiousness, "What does Cloud-san mean?"_

 _"It means," Kyoya leaned forward, and the Baby Sky followed as they huddled together, and whispered, "You need to learn how to use the pretty fire." Saying this, he held out his hand, and flickers of Cloud flames sparked on his fingers._

 _Tsuna's eyes brightened as he stared at the pretty purple fire –just like his orange fire that was begging to be let out to mingle with the pretty purple fire- and beamed at Kyoya. "Cloud-san, you are the most amazing person ever!"_

 _And the gears of fate starting turning._

(Yuna peeked into the room in which her son was playing with his friend and squealed. "Oh my god they're so adorable!"

Nana clicked more pictures of her Tsu-kun's first play date with his best friend from her camera and smiled hesitantly at Yuna, "If you like, I can get you a copy of these pictures…..?" The loneliness and barely repressed hope was definitely visible in her eyes.

Yuna turned to stare at Nana and gave her a smile that was three parts happiness and seven parts sadism, "I think," she announced as she hugged Nana sideways, "we're going to get along just fine, Nana-chan."

 _And that was the start of an unholy friendship the likes of which Namimori had never seen…)_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _"Ne, ne, Cloud-san….." Tsuna asked as he sat on the swing in the playground and asked Kyoya –who had just returned from his patrol duty around Namimori town- with an oddly curious look. "Tsu-kun is the Boss of our fam- famigi- ugh! Family, right?"_

 _Kyoya nodded warily as he noticed the amusement and sadistic streak swimming in the younger's eyes._

 _"Then does that mean that Cloud-san will call Tsu-kun Boss?" he asked in amusement._

 _Kyoya's eyes twitched as he hissed angrily, "For even daring to think so, Baby Omnivore, **I will bite you to death!"**_

 _Tsuna squeaked as he jumped off the swing and ran away from an angry Hibari Kyoya, all the while laughing – **not** cackling (his orange fire begged to differ)- as he was being chased by his most favorite person in the world –after his Mama, of course. And it's not like the tonfas strikes actually hurt. For all his grumpiness, Cloud-san doesn't like to use violence against him –and when he does so, he usually hits him gently._

 _Cloud-san is a surprisingly gentle person –for him, that is. He didn't care that Cloud-san isn't as gentle to others as he is to him. as long as Cloud-san cared about Tsuna, that's all that matters to him._

 _(His orange fire purred in agreement.)_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Kyoya blushed a deep red as he shoved a large-nicely wrapped- packet in his –now- five year old Baby Sky's hands and mumbled gruffly, "Happy Birthday, Baby Omnivore."_

 _The smile he got in return dazzled him with it's brilliance, "Thank you, Cloud-san!"_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Hibari Yuna was out with Sawada Nana for a spa day. That means Hibari Seiji was left to do the most crucial thing. **Babysitting.**_

 _Cue his horrified screams._

 _And it didn't help that one of the child he is babysitting is his own –violent, sadistic, unreasonable- son, and the other child happens to be Sawada Nana's cute son who has been corrupted by Kyoya. He just knew things will end horribly, and **painfully**. For him, that is._

 _"Are you Cloud-san's father?" The tiny five year old asked innocently as he tilted his head._

 _Seiji was a bit thrown off by the orange glow in his eyes but he didn't show it as he crouched down before the adorable child, and smiled at him. "Yes I am. And who might you be, little one?"_

 _"Tsu-kun is Tsu-kun!" The child said brightly, and Seiji chuckled at the enthusiastic child. Oh he is so cute! Not that Kyoya wasn't cute, but well….._

 _If only Kyoya was this normal…_

 _He spared his son a glance, who noticed his stare at scowled at him. "What?!" he hissed like a kitten whose fur had been brushed wrong._

 _"Nothing." Seiji sighed, and then said, "You two can go play in Kyoya's room." He then shot Kyoya a stern look and warned, "Don't injure Tsunayoshi, Kyoya, even if you get annoyed at him for some reason."_

 _Kyoya's glare at him intensified. "I would never-!"_

 _Seiji scoffed. "You said that the last time too. Look how it ended."_

 _"That stupid herbivore started it!" he argued at him._

 _"It was a play date, Kyoya. You are supposed to share your things with others on a play date. She just touched your little toy lion." He said exasperatedly. "There was no need to hit her."_

 ** _"She touched Natsu."_** _He grumbled in fury._

 _"She is a **child**." He retorted. "Sure, Shizuka is a year older than you and should know better to ask before touching other's things, but that does not mean you can hit her to retaliate."_

 _"But-"_

 _"No." Seiji said sternly. "You will not use violence against impressionable kids. You will not hurt Tsunayoshi-kun and that's final." He said firmly._

 _A tense silence surrounded them as father and son duo glared at each other. The silence was then broken a moment later by one Sawada Tsunayoshi._

 _"Cloud-san won't hurt Tsu-kun." a small, but firm voice broke the glaring contest between the father and son duo, who stared at the five year old child in shock._

 _"What?" Seiji gaped at him_

 _"Cloud-san is nice. Cloud-san won't hurt Tsu-kun." Tsuna said with conviction, as his amber eyes narrowed at Hibari Seiji. He then tugged Kyoya's sleeves and said, "Ne, ne, Cloud-san….. Tsu-kun wants to see Natsu and others." He tilted his head and asked innocently –and well…. If his amber eyes flashed with a little bit of sadism, Kyoya won't call him out on it- "Cloud-san promised Tsu-kun, after all."_

 _"Let's go." Kyoya grumbled as he took Tsuna to his room, leaving a gaping Seiji behind._

 _"Holy shit," Seiji whispered. "Kyoya made a friend."_

 _He stared up skyward and mumbled, "Is the world ending?"_

 _._

 _._

 _._

And these are few of the many instances of Kyoya and Tsuna's friendship…

* * *

While his baby Sky's presence was godsend to calm his restless Flames down, it wasn't enough to calm down the urge to just _let loose_ and act on his blood-thirst. He was itching for a fight, and the stupid fake-carnivores he beat every once in a while - _especially those Yakuza who had the great idea to snatch away his territory_ \- weren't enough to satiate his blood-thirst. He could only restrain himself so much before he snapped and hurt some innocent bystander. What if he lost control of his own flames and hurt his baby sky? He'd never be able to forgive himself if he hurts his –baby- Sky.

That means he needs to get back in control. And that means blowing something up to the kingdom come and get out all this frustration, anger and blood-thirst brimming inside him.

So when Kusakabe Tetsuya told him about some Yakuza Gang kidnapping kids around the Kokuyo district –which is next to Namimori- for child trafficking, he immediately grabbed the opportunity to release the pent up frustration and bloodlust before he snaps.

What he didn't expect was his Baby Sky's insistence to stay with him.

"Don't go Cloud-san!" he begged as he grabbed Kyoya's sleeves in a tight grip. "Don't leave Tsu-kun!"

"Baby Omnivore," He mumbled in a –slightly-soothing tone as he gently tugged Tsuna's hands and he loosened his grip. "I need to go. Someone needs to show those herbivores their true position in food chain."

"Kusakabe-san can go!" Tsuna insisted. "Cloud-san can stay with Tsu-kun instead!"

"Baby omnivore." He said sternly, and Tsuna clamped his mouth shut. "A true carnivore doesn't shy away from confrontation." He then patted Tsuna's fluffy hair and said, "I will be back soon anyways."

Tsuna didn't look convinced.

A thought flickered in his mind and his eyes narrowed at his Baby Sky. "Why are you insisting for me to not go, anyways?"

Tsuna stiffened. He averted his eyes and didn't reply.

Kyoya growled. _"Baby Omnivore…"_

His baby Sky flinched. "It's the fire." He whispered softly as his eyes flashed amber. "It wants Tsu-kun to stay with Cloud-san."

Kyoya eyed the serious visage of his Sky. So his Vongola Intuition is acting up? So, is it warning Tsuna that Kyoya is walking into some sort of trap? Or that his opponents are stronger than he thought?

Whatever be the case, His Sky's Hyper-intuition has never been wrong. If it is warning Tsuna about Kyoya's opponents' strength, then maybe Kyoya will finally get some good fight out of it… Now that would work wonders for all this pent up frustration. …

He had been itching for a good fight for about two years now.

"I will be fine." Kyoya said with a smirk and patted Tsuna's fluffy hair once again. "Don't worry so much, Baby Omnivore."

Tsuna wanted to protest, but was cut off when Kyoya shoved a familiar soft toy in his hands.

"Natsu will take care of you until I come back." He mumbled gruffly.

His baby Sky buried his head in the soft orange fabric of his soft toy Lion cub and whispered in a vulnerable tone, "Cloud-san will come back soon, right?"

"I promise." Kyoya nodded solemnly as he promised his Sky as he left for Kokuyo District on a car.

* * *

They had reached the Kokuyo district in four hours, and it took another six hours to get the right information about their enemies as well as an exact location of their base in this time. It didn't take long for Kyoya to arrive on their base an beat an inch out of every single Yakuza member present there. Sadly, they weren't even strong enough to actually make him fight them seriously. And to add to his growing frustration, the kidnapped children were also not there in the base.

Kyoya then grabbed the Leader of the base and behind the closed doors tortured him for information. The pathetic man didn't even last fifteen minutes under his torture before he broke down and babbled everything like a broken radio. Turns out, this base in Kokuyo District is just one of the smaller branches of a Trafficking Ring and the children have already been shipped to Tokyo to their main base, where they would be sold in the Black market in three days.

Without wasting any time, Kyoya rushed to Tokyo – _but not before giving his parents a call and informing them of the new turnoff events so that they could deal with the aftermath_ (His father had cursed his hot hotheadedness, while his –sweet, amazing- mother advised him to keep them updated and promised to send her own subordinates to snoop around)- and spread his resources thin to find any information on the Child Trafficking Ring. But to his frustration, it was like finding a needle among hay-stick. He looked high and low for those _bastardo_ yakuza, but he couldn't find them at all.

(If only he had the people and resources he had groomed personally for CEDEF under his command, then he wouldn't have to run around like a headless herbivore for such a small task. Sometimes, he really wished he was back with his family, then everything would've been _so_ much easier. His men and pineapple carnivore's spies would've found out everything about their opponents in ten minutes, and then after that the Vongola guardians themselves would've caused havoc on their enemies –if only to see who could incapacitate more men.

Ah, good old times…..)

He was so, _so_ angry and frustrated with the lack of progress with the investigation that was almost _this_ close to snap. That was when his s\Sky's special brand of luck –that has somehow been rubbed on him- reared it's head. And he got kidnapped.

In the clichéd – _chloroform to the nose_ \- way too.

He wanted to bash his head against the wall at the utter stupidity of all this _. Fucking Vongola and their particular brand of luck that gets rubbed off on innocent Cloud Guardians that somehow time travelled back in the past…._

(Okay, that sounded more awesome in his mind, but whatever.)

And that's how Kyoya found himself -with a throbbing headache, bloodshot eyes and gruesome thoughts of murder in his mind- in a room filled with baby herbivores in tattered clothes -sniffling and crying- while bound with metallic cuffs.

Needless to say, Hibari Kyoya was not amused. _At all._

Especially when his Flames burned inside him restlessly when they recognized someone from this gaggle of baby herbivores.

And that someone happens to be his –favorite- Mist, Dokuro Chrome.

(Someone touched _his_ –now baby- Mist and hurt her. They shall pay the retribution for touching even a hair of her.

These utter _idiota_ just signed their own death warrants, they just didn't know it yet.)


	4. Incertitude

**WARNING:- some dark themes, blood, gore, violence and Fluff. Beware,you have been warned.**

 **Read at your own cost.**

* * *

 **Incertitude**

(ɪnˈsəːtɪtjuːd)

 _noun_

a state of uncertainty or hesitation

* * *

 _"mio nebbia…."_ He whispered as his grey eyes bore into her frail form, unwilling to shift on anything else.

Five year old Chrome was everything he had imagined her to be–small, shy, frail, easily scared; and yet, she had some differences from her older counterpart- she didn't have the resolve to protect that burned in her mismatched eyes, nor did she have the confidence to back it up (to say nothing of the passive-aggressiveness Chrome usually showed when dealing with Kyoya and Mukuro's usual sheniangians, as well as the spine of steel that made enemies cower in terror –and he hadn't even mentioned the lethality of her illusions yet).

For all the differences between this child and her older counterpart, Kyoya could see the similarities between them- the same indigo hair, blue eyes (even if it is quite strange to see her with homochromatic indigo eyes instead of heterochromatic ones), pale skin, shy personality, polite demeanor- and of course, ho can forget the active Mist flames that pulsed within the girl – _the only reason no one had paid attention to her exotic features yet, the girl was unconsciously using her Mist Flames to hide herself. Impressive._

Among all his guardians, Kyoya was the closest to Chrome. The fact that she was polite, not too talkative and did not crowd like pathetic herbivores made her one of the most tolerable herbivores in his list. It did help that she could keep up with him when he was in one of his 'moods', also she wouldn't be afraid to rip him –and the Pineapple carnivore- a new one when they get too overboard with their 'spars'.

But what brought the two of them closer was the fact that their Flames resonated well with each other. Chrome and Mukuro were both Mists- however, Mukuro's Mist Flames were usually frighteningly calm and deceptive, while Chrome's Mist Flames were flexible (like a mirage) and possessive. Their Flames had always just fit _right_ together, and it was also shown in the efficient way they worked together. If Chrome was a lackey to Mukuro, then to Kyoya she was an irreplaceable partner-in-crime (with far more patience and benevolence than he would ever be).

 _'Mine.'_ His Flames purred inside him unconsciously. _minemineminemineminemine-_

He snapped out of his trance and put his Flames in leash before they could escape from his control and hold Chrome in a possessive grip. He was sure his Flames would never hurt his Baby Mist, but that doesn't mean he would like to scare her. Besides, showing Flames in the company of civilians is a sure way trip to Vendicare, and he wasn't too eager to see the mummified faces of a chibified-Bermuda and his lackies so soon.

Sighing, he shook his head and scolded himself mentally to get his mind on track. A carnivore like himself should have more composure than to be panicking like a herbivore on meeting unexpected people.

Okay, so the first priority is to get these children safely out of this base, and then make those stupid fake-herbivores pay for _harming his Baby Mist_ –err, he means trying to kidnap baby herbivores in his territories (Ha! Right) and then find their records of buyers and sellers for the child trafficking in the Underground Market. There is sure to have the records somewhere in this place, right?

There is also the matter of escaping from here. Getting out of here himself was a child's play for him –but getting the children out would be quite tricky. And from what he could sense from his Flames, there were two guards keeping an eye outside their room, and also there were people patrolling around the area and would pass the rough this room in every forty five minutes. So he had to get these children out in forty five minutes before the next patrol session.

Nodding in his head as a basic plan formed in his mind, he stared at the cheap metal cuffs he had been tied with and snorted. Fucking _idiota_ , why the hell did they think that binding a Cloud with shackles would be a good idea? That is a sure way to hell. _Fucking morons._

Using a wisp of his Cloud Flames, the metal cuffs in his hands shattered immediately into pieces. The CLANK! noise attracted the attention of other baby herbivores –who had been busy crying for a while now, to stare at him in shock.

"Don't make a single fucking noise, herbivores," He hissed in a low voice that rang around the room-though he was sure it won't be heard by the guards outside since he hadn't been that loud. _"or I will bite you to death."_

The baby-herbivores quietened down immediately as they trembled at the seriousness of his threat.

Kyoya then stood up and scanned the cluttered room with his grey eyes. There were a total of fifteen baby-herbivores –all of whom were under the age twelve.

"I can get you all out of here." He said quietly, as fifteen pair of eyes stared at him in fear and barely repressed hope. "But you will have to cooperate with me to the full extent. Do you agree?"

They all opened their mouth to speak, but he hushed them before they could give him away. Seriously, why don't herbivores use their brains at all?! Loud noises would only attract attention from their captors. It's not like this room was soundproof.

"Don't speak! Just nod your heads if you agree!" he hissed at them.

The children just shared a look with each other and nodded.

He took a deep breath and pinched his nose. Oh kami, he is already having a headache –and he hasn't even started the Operation yet. This is why he truly hated socializing.

"I will get you out of your hand-cuffs." He told them in a low tone. After that, I will get us out of this room, and then you will be led out of this place to safety. Any questions?" A few opened their mouths to speak, but he cut them off in a typical Hibari Kyoya fashion. "None? Good. I don't like answering stupid herbivorous questions anyways."

He would never admit that he actually enjoyed the way a few baby-herbivores actually trembled at the sight of his bloodthirsty grin. Of course, not. He isn't that childish.

(He is.)

Putting a barrier of Mist Flames around the room so that no noise would leak outside –he wouldn't trust these baby-herbivores to keep quiet, he had a lifetime of experience about how restless herbivores can get –and baby herbivores are even worse than adult ones!- he started working on the handcuffs of the kids. Using his Cloud Flames to increase the strength in his hands, he tore off the handcuffs one by one.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

He made his way from the kids nearest to him to the farthest ones –and in the end, he reached Chrome-who also happened to be the only person remaining that had a handcuff on her hands. He fiercely stomped down his Flames before they could rage at seeing his Baby Mist in shackles (how dare they bind his Mist, where the fuck did they get the courage to _bindcapturetie_ his Mist-)

Taking a deep breath, he took a step towards his Baby Mist and his heart squeezed painfully when he saw her actually flinch at his near proximity. His grey eyes softened unconsciously, and he gave her a reassuring look. He placed his hands over hers and held them gently. He was well aware of her sharp indigo eyes staring at him – _and something inside him burned at the reminder that his Mist did not even trust him to even touch her_ \- but he did not do anything other than enveloping her in a wisp of his Mist Flames –he did not use his Cloud Flames in far that they would get out of control and would latch on the poor girl, making it harder for him to part with her.

He felt her own Mist Flames – _timid, but so, **so strong**_ \- hesitantly reach out to his own ones, and seek comfort from his – _slightly fierce and sharper_ \- Mist Flames. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her exhale and relax a bit. When her tense shoulders relaxed, only then he acted.

Sliding his hands towards her handcuffs, he tapped the handcuffs tying her with his finger – _enforced by his Cloud Flames_ \- and the handcuffs shattered and fell off her wrists smoothly. His eyes narrowed at the patch of bruised skin on her wrist that could only be the result of wearing metal handcuffs for quite some time –and it made him realize that perhaps Chrome had been kidnapped a few weeks ago and had been held in captivity all this time. This only enraged him even further.

 _Kill!_ His Flames rolled in rage inside him. _KillthemKillthemKillkillkillkillkill-_

He once again suppressed his Flames, and calmed them down with just one word. A promise.

 _'Soon.'_ He whispered soothingly to his Flames as his grey eyes glinted with a hint of Bloodlust in them.

The promise of the upcoming massacre of the utter _bastardo_ who dared to harm his Mist was enough for his Flames to settle down for a while.

He glanced up at Chrome's eyes that glittered like lapis lazuli, and saw fear, hesitance, and hope inside them. She looked like a frightened small animal to him, which only softened his heart further. He patted her head gently and whispered n a soothing tone, "I will protect you, _mio nebbia_." He said, his eyes burning with conviction. "I will keep you safe."

Her Mist Flames latched further with his own, and he just comfort her _hurtwaryhesitant_ Flames by engulfing them with another layer of his Mist Flames.

"…..Thank you." she whispered quietly as she held her hands closer to herself and gave him a hesitant smile, to which he only nodded and stepped back from her.

He had exhausted his quota of touching and comforting a baby herbivore for today. And no, his ears that were now turning red in embarrassment had nothing to do with it.

(A lie.)

Clearing his throat to get the attention of the baby herbivores, he said, "Now that all of you have been freed from the cuffs, I will get you all out of here." He then paused, and added as an afterthought. "But before that, there are somethings every baby herbivore needs to agree on."

"One- no talking, no shouting, no crowding. Whatever happens on your way out, you only need to keep walking forward and follow my instructions."

"Two- even if you come across any threat, do not make any noise and leave it to me."

"Three- once you get out of this place, you will no longer be my responsibility. One way or another my people will find you and get you to your families, but in case that doesn't happen, you will go straight to the nearest police station and tell them everything."

"Four- and the most important one- do not tell anyone about me _or I will bite you to death_. Is that understood?"

The children all nodded fearfully.

He sighed. "Alright then, let's begin."

Saying this, Kyoya placed a finger on the ground and sent out a pulse of his flames. He learned this method of sensing active and non-active Flame users from Reborn. You can say whatever you want about the hitman's demonic tutoring methods, but it can't be denied that the man actually was a good teacher.

Closing his eyes, he sensed his surroundings through his flames, and an outlined map formed in his mind. The building they have been captured in is actually underground and it's entrance on the surface actually opened up in the ruined building outside Tokyo –no wonder they haven't found it yet. This underground building has four floors. There were almost twenty people on each floor, scattered around-in addition to the children who had been kept on the lowest level. Other than the basic outline of this place and the position of guards, he can't tell much. But this much is enough for him –at least to get these baby herbivores out.

Ignoring the door, he made his way to the side wall and did what any normal Cloud Flame user would do- blow up the wall. It only took a strike of his Cloud Flames-encased fist and-

BOOM!

The wall exploded outward-making every baby herbivore flinch.

It's a good thing that he had erected a Mist barrier in the area of ten meters radius around him, or else the sound really would've attracted the guards. Sometimes, he's really glad that he has Mist Flames as his secondary Flames – _though he was still miffed about that fact that he actually shared something common with the Pineapple Carnivore._

"Follow me." he grunted as he stepped through the hole and into the side room that was just next to the room they had been held captive, while stepping around the debris of dust and bricks scattered on the ground. The children shuffled easily before they followed him into the side room, that turned out to be an unused storeroom.

Kyoya turned towards the children and gestured to the door. "In a while, we will get out from this door." He explained to them. "this door opens in another hallway, so you don't have to worry about the guards outside the other room we had been held in."

"…H-How do you know that?" someone asked in a low tone.

Kyoya smirked. "I just do. I don't need to explain anything to you, baby herbivore."

"Now," he said sharply as he eyed the children and said in a strict tone, "Form a line and hold each other's hands so none of you get lost. Do not make any useless noise nor let go of your hands. Just follow my lead. If I stop, you stop. If I keep walking, you should keep walking even if we end up walking straight into a damn minefield. Understood?"

The baby herbivores whispered hesitantly and after a while they agreed.

"Good." He nodded and said, "Let's get this show on the road."

Saying this, he opened the door with practiced ease-maybe he should thank that Juudaime-worshipping-herbivore for forcing all of them to learn stupid tricks like how to pick locks (Not that he actually would, of course.)- and swung the door open. After that, he stepped out of the door, followed by baby-herbivores holding each other's hands and formed a straight line as if they were little ducklings crossing a road.

No one noticed the air around them shimmering for moment as Mist flames settled around them in protection, and neither did they notice Kyoya sneaking in the shadows as his Mist Construct took his place – _he stuffed his Mist Construct with enough Cloud Flames to deal with any sort of problem that they encounter on their way, the chances of which are quite low since he had put an illusionistic barrier around them which would let them pass by any non-active Flame user unnoticed._

It's a good thing that he had managed to pester that annoying Mist Arcobalaeno into teaching him the use of his Mist Flames to their full extent- _although it did end up with him being extorted out of his money by that herbivore_ (which only further amused his fellow guardians.)

He watched as the baby herbivores followed his Mist Construct and walked away and towards the entrance on the top floor. Only when they were out of his sight that he smirked bloodthirstily and mumbled,

"Now, it's time to _hunt."_

His Flames _purred_ in agreement.

(He never noticed a pair of hesitant indigo eyes watching him from the shadows, covered thickly by their own Mist Flames.)

~O~

The pair of dark blue eyes glanced back at the turn where the other children had followed the Not-grey eyed boy, and stared back at the real one who was now making his way to the other side of the hallway, just where the room they had been held in was actually located.

The figure hesitated. What should they do?

The cool, indigo fire inside them nudged them towards the departing figure of the grey eyed boy.

 _'Warm.'_ It seems to whisper shyly to them. _'Warm. Safe. Purple- Friend. Family.'_

Really? That boy is her friend? Will he really be her family?

Will he trust her? Will he listen to her? Will he protect her? Will he keep her safe?

Or will he be just like Kaa-san and say bad words to her?

 _'No!'_ the indigo fire shook inside her, as if the very idea of the grey eyed boy hurting her was offensive. _'Misty Cloud. Purple. Good. Warm. Safe. **Family**.'_

She pursued her lip. Will the boy really not hurt her? The fire is not lying, right?

But…. It has never lied to her before. It has only protected her. When her mother always said bad words to her and became harsh as soon as she saw her, the fire began to make her invisible to her mother so that she would not notice her daughter. When the mean girls who sometimes pulled her hair and taunted her became too much for her, it would make scary things appear out of nowhere and scare them away. The fire had always protected her.

And now, it was asking her to trust this grey eyed boy.

….It won't hurt to listen to the fire, right?

And so, Sasaki Nagi followed the grey eyed boy whom her indigo fire trusted so much, and wondered distantly what it actually meant by ' _family.'_

~O~

Hibari Kyoya marched forward like a war god as he dealt with the yakuza men that attacked him as soon as they saw him. A bloodthirsty grin made it's way to his lips as his grey eyes flashed amethyst in excitement as he slashed through bodies like a knife cuts through butter. He left corpses in his wake, blood pooling beneath them and staining the pristine marble floor crimson. The seven year old boy did not even need any kind of weapon to deal with these flies. With only his martial arts abilities as well as the purple Cloud Flames –and the indigo Mist flames from time to time- he managed to create a scene of utter carnage and desolation. And it was still not enough to satiate his need to spill the blood of these _bastardo_ who dared to hurt one of his own-

BANG!

His head tilted a bit and he dodged the bullet that had been aimed for his head with practiced ease, and formed a long purple whip with his Cloud Flames – _it wasn't as refined as the ones he could in his past. Tch, his control has definitely slipped_ \- and wrapped it around the offender's wrist and with a tug, the enemy's arm –that held the gun- was torn off from the elbow, making the person scream.

Blood gushed out of his torn arm and spilled on the floor, and he glanced at the offending detached limb in distaste and released it from the hold of his Cloud whip.

THUNK!

The offending limb fell on the floor in a bloody mess, while the enemy's screams reverberated around the hallways, causing everyone to feel goosebumps raising on their arms. The man's screams were cut off as the Cloud whip pierced through his heart, leaving him dead.

Three more men shot towards kyoya with their guns –but they had none of the finesse they had in the begin, and instead, their shots were more frantic and panicked. Kyoya dodged the bullets –he grunted as a stray bullet hit him in the leg, but he ignored the pain for now- and slipped nearer to them.

Kyoya had always been a close ranged fighter, so it wasn't a surprise when he slipped past the flying bullets and kicked a man with such strength that made him cough up blood and pass out immediately. He punched the other one through the head-and nodded distantly as his hand was stained with brain matter and gore- while dodging a bullet from the third foe. He then shot a small purple fireball the size of an egg towards the third man –who screamed as the cloud flames exploded and sent him flying.

Eying his surroundings, he noticed that none of his opponents were alive, and advanced forward. Earlier, he had captured a guard and interrogated him to find out about the place where these men kept records, as well as the location of their Boss. The man had adamantly refused at first, but had to reply to his questions within ten seconds when Kyoya starting torturing him. The Boss had been hiding on the second Floor in his own office. And so Kyoya made his way to the second floor from the fourth one in this underground facility, leaving behind a massacre in his wake.

And now, he had finally arrived at his destination. Kicking the door open, Kyoya entered the office – _looking like a War God in all his Glory_ \- as his amethyst eyes narrowed on the herbivore sitting calmly over his desk, doing paperwork. The herbivore –a man in his early forties with brown eyes and greying raven hair, with a scar starting from under his right eye and stretching to his lips- just glanced at him calmly and raised his brows in a mocking gesture, which only incensed his fury even further.

"Herbivore," Kyoya grinned in bloodthirst as he spoke, "for the crime of disturbing the peace of Namimori, kidnapping children under my protection and harming my people, _you will be bitten to death."_

The man cocked his head to the side and stared at him from top to bottom and hummed in contemplation. "That depends, child," The man said with a calm smile, "If you have the ability."

Kyoya growled. _This stupid herbivore dared to underestimate him._

He will _definitely_ be bitten to death.

Crouching a bit, Kyoya flung himself forward in in a matter of seconds, he destroyed the desk into pieces and aimed a punch at the man's abdomen. The man's face flickered with a hint of surprise, but he dodged Kyoya's punch by sliding his chair backward. Kyoya spun and aimed a kick at the man's head, which his enemy avoided by leaning his chair backward.

The seven year old Cloud Guardian growled as he punched once again, but the enemy once again dodged nimbly –only for his hand to get stuck into the back of the chair. With an aggressive pull, the chair shattered in pieces as Kyoya took his hand back, and the enemy leaped away from him to avoid the splinters of the chair he had been sitting on.

The man landed a few feet away from Kyoya as he eyed the destruction of the room, done by the hands of a seven year old. "Impressive." He smirked. "You will definitely fetch quite an amount when I will sell you in the Underground Market."

Kyoya's temper soared. He had never seen such an infuriating opponent before. Even the Marshmallow –herbivore hadn't been this annoying – _and that's saying something considering how much pain in the ass he had actually been in his past life._

Kyoya crouched in an attack stance and hissed out, "You're courting death!" Saying this, he launched himself at his enemy and attacked him fiercely. His seven year old body was already tired and sore from fighting so many grown up men, but he kept on persevering and kept advancing forward. Having cloud Flames was really helpful in this case- since Cloud Flames had the ability to propagate, even with the blood loss they kept propagating more blood as well as adrenaline, and made sure his organs worked well and weren't shutting down.

Kyoya's usual grey eyes burned amethyst as he kicked, punched, hooked, uppercut, and struck with everything he had. The enemy would either dodge, or retaliate with a punch or a strike to his main points –which Kyoya dodged. Kyoya then grabbed the man's arm that had been about to strike him in the heart, and twisted the wrist- however, the man just slammed his other hand –that he held in a fist- into his back, making him choke as air was forcefully rushed out of his lungs, and his throat burned as a metallic taste appeared in his mouth and Kyoya soon coughed up blood.

Ignoring the pain, Kyoya spun quickly to dodge another strike –and the damn man actually released his arm from his hold- and his heart fluttered in panic as a glinting metal was stabbed into the right side of his chest, piercing through a lung. Kyoya collapsed on the floor as a stream of blood gushed out of his mouth and stained his lips red.

The man pulled out the sharp knife from his body, and watched in interest as Kyoya panted and glared up fiercely at the enemy Boss. It was pathetic, really, how he had been reduced to such a state by a herbivore no less. If he had his previous body, this kind of trash wouldn't even have lasted five seconds. Unfortunately, not only his body was now of a seven year old –and hence had limited capability- but his control on his Flames wasn't as refined as he would like it to have, hence, the reason why he was reduced to such a bloodied state by a pathetic herbivore.

"I have to admit, kid, you've fought quite valiantly till now." The man admitted as he stared at the seven year old child coldly. "But in the end, a child is a child. You cannot compare to the strength of an adult." The man flickered the silver knife between his fingers playfully and said, "You know, for all the trouble you've caused me, I could have gotten the compensation by selling you at a high price in the Underground Market. Such a pity though, you're already bound to someone. Aren't you, _Cloud?"_

Kyoya's head snapped up sharply as soon as he heard those words. _Nononononono-_

 _It couldn't be-_

"Oh? Looks like you actually know a bit about this side of things, huh. You are quite smart for a child." The man's lips twitched as he stared at the child with a mocking smile on his face. "Yes, you guessed it right. My main business is to provide the mafia with potential flame active agents for their famiglia. The children that we take away are the ones that have the most potential to activate their Flames." The man eyed him appreciatively from top to bottom, making Kyoya's Flames itch in disgust. "You'd have fetched such a good price. I've never seen such pure Cloud Flames. A shame, really, you're already being courted by a powerful Sky. I can feel the remnants of the Sky's flames on you. I wonder who could have such pure Sky flames." The man contemplated, "Maybe I can entice them to this side by holding you hostage. And then I can kill you for causing me so much trouble."

Even the thought of his Baby Sky in this disgusting man's clutches – _because of his mistakes_ \- made him furious beyond belief. His Flames roared in fury as they pumped more energy into him, demanding him to-

 _Killkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillkill-_

(And turns out, he wasn't the only one who had been angered by his words.)

A blast of pure, indigo Flames shot towards the enemy, sending him flying as the Mist that had been shrouding someone in the background shifted, and revealed a five year old blue haired girl trembling as she clutched her hands closer to herself, but her eyes flashed like burning indigo crystals – _so full of determination and the intent to protect –to just **do** something_\- made his breath hitch as he was almost reminded of _his Mist_.

"Y-You cannot h-h-hurt Purple-san!" his five year old Baby Mist quivered. "I- I won't let you!"

Brown eyes flashed at the five year old girl as the man stood up and shrugged off the debris surrounding him. "My, my, another flame active child….." The man whispered. "Aren't I lucky today? And this one isn't even being courted by any Sky yet…." The man then cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as he eyed the Baby Mist from top to bottom as he contemplated, "But she does have a wisp of Sky Flames as well as Cloud flames marking her." The man then turned to Kyoya and raised a brow, "did you already mark her as a potential guardian for your Sky? My, my, aren't you a clever one."

"But unfortunately for you," the man smiled mockingly at Kyoya, "I will be keeping this one."

Saying this, a huge pressure emitted from the man as he released his Flames, and soon some dark green Flames - exploded out from the man and engulfed the area, choking the five year old girl with it's intensity.

"You will fetch a really good price, little one." The man smiled and then disappeared –and the next moment he appeared behind the indigo haired child. Lightning flames flickered from his hand and passed through his knife, and escaped and formed a close-knit net around the girl, trapping her in a cage made of Lightening Flames.

Her eyes widened as she tried to force her way out, but as soon as her small hands touched the green flames of the cage, they were burned, making her cry out in pain. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she cradled her hands tighter to her and whimpered in pain.

"Oh child, don't you know that you should not play with fire?" the man smiled mockingly at the timid girl, but soon his smile turned into a look of horror, and a moment later a scream tore out of his lips as-

SPLAT!

-something slammed into his chest, piercing his heart as blood flowed out of his wound, staining his clothes red. He coughed up blood and could only watch in horror as image of the girl crying in the cage made of lightning disappeared, leaving him staring at the amethyst eyes of the raven haired boy whose fist had pierced his chest.

The indigo eyed girl herself was standing next to the boy, tears rolling down her cheeks as her hands burned from lightening flames.

"Herbivore, you made a mistake." Kyoya murmured quietly. "Your mistake was to assume that I only have Cloud Flames. Also-"

His eyes flashed murderously as he hissed out, "You harmed _mio nebbia_ , for this grave offense, you have been _bitten to death."_

He pulled back his blood stained hand from the man's chest, leaving the man's corpse to fall down like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Enduring the exhaustion and pain in his body, Kyoya pressed the wound on his chest that was bleeding heavily as turned to the girl next to him who was whimpering in pain, and looking everywhere but him.

Kyoya felt like he was worse than scum on earth. He had not only let a five year old innocent girl –that happened to be his Baby Mist-watch him murder so many people – _regardless of the fact that he hadn't even known she had been following him since he had been drunk on his bloodlust to notice any odd occurences_ \- but he had also let her get hurt. If he hadn't disappeared using Mist Flames and attacked the man before he could truly harm Chrome, then who knows what could've happened. But still, in the end he had still failed to protect her from harm.

 _My fault._ His Flames rolled around inside him in guilt. _Myfaultmyfaultmyfaultmyfault-_

Something like this hadn't happened in the past. He was sure of it. The only thing that had happened in Chrome's childhood was the accident that led to her meeting the Pineapple Carnivore. If something like this had happened in his previous life, then he was sure that Chrome would never have ended up with them since he was sure that something like this hadn't happened to him in the past. She might have been sold off to some mafia famiglia as a flame active recruit.

That means it is his presence that has somehow messed up with this timeline. Not only had he traumatized his Baby Mist and had also been harmed for his sake, but he also messed up with her life and made her experience something she shouldn't have in her past life.

It was entirely his fault. It was all _his_ fault. Why was he doing this, destroying his family's lives like this? Maybe he should leave them instead of getting them hurt because of his very existence. _Wouldn't it be wonderful if he hadn't existed-_

(Her indigo fire burned as if it were aching and whimpered inside her. ' _Sad…'_ it whispered to her. _'Purple- sad. Hurt.'_

_'Help him. Make him stay.')_

"Purple-san….." The girl whimpered as she hesitantly placed her hand into his bloodied hand –staining her dainty, soft, pale –burned- hands with crimson, and made him snap out of his trance. Her teary blue eyes stared at him as her Mist Flames latched onto him. "d-don't leave me, p-p-please…" She blinked and whispered, "I d-d-don't want to be lonely…"

A lone tear rolled down her cheek, and his heart thudded in his chest painfully as the younger girl shifted closer to him and sniffed. "M-Mother says mean t-things to m-m-me….. e-e-even the g-girls in my c-c-c-class make fun of me… I-I don't wanna go back to that…."

She hesitated as she whispered softly, "The f-f-fire says you're family….. y-you are, r-r-right?" She stared at him warily, she was skittish like an abused doe, just one wrong move and it will never trust you again. "A-a-are you?"

 _Family…..?_

His dull, grey eyes stared at his Baby Mist as images of his previous life flashed past his eyes-

Tsuna's exasperated sighs and screams, Hayato's scolding and Juudaime-worshipping; Takeshi's cheery attitude and his insistence on having a baseball match every Sunday; Lambo's annoying bratty attitude as he pranks everyone from time to time; Ryohei screaming about boxing being 'EXTREME' and being a nuisance in general; Chrome smiling sadistically as she replaced sugar with laxatives that one time she was irritated at everyone during her periods, Mukuro escaping in his office for normal 'spar' when he actually messed someone up (usually Tsuna) and needed a place to hide-

And he, Hibari Kyoya, the Cloud Guardian of the Vongola famiglia, who would drag others to an impromptu fight and would fuss every time the Decimo would force him to do some stupid mission. He –who would be dragged to some stupid high society gala to endure herbivore's crowding as a punishment for increasing Decimo's paperwork by destroying more than necessary things.

His fellow guardians… his _companionsfriendsfamily-_

 _"My pride is my comrades… My Friends!"_

 _Tsunayoshi….._

 _"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE VONGOLA!"_

 _Hayato…._

 _"That's what friends are for, right?"_

 _Takeshi…._

 _"Hibari! Join my Boxing club!"_

 _Ryohei…._

 _"I am happy to be here and I enjoy staying with you all more than anything… I want to catch up to you all…. To the world that Young Vongola and others live….."_

 _Lambo…_

 _"I want to be someone who could protect her comrades!"_

 _Chrome….._

 _"I hate the Mafia, I hate the Estraneo, I hate the Vongola…but it doesn't mean I hate the Family too…"_

 _Mukuro…_

"Family, huh….?" He whispered as his grey eyes regained their vigor and he stared back at Chrome's teary eyes. If he left now, will they feel sad? Will they be hurt? Will they miss him?

 _…..What a stupidly herbivorous question._ Of course they will. Actually, they're more likely to drag him back from hell and murder him themselves just for doubting the strength of their bond.

He may be back in the past as his family may never remember the precious time spent with them, but the bond between them was still there…. He could feel it. Otherwise, his Baby Sky would not be unconsciously courting his Flames for harmonization once again –after all, it takes months for the courting to be successful, and harmonization takes even longer. Also, his Baby Mist would never have connected with him so easily if the remnants of the bond he had with them during the past weren't there.

It truly is astonishing, how their bond still remains even when neither their memories, nor their own selves are the same. They were a bunch of misfits, but it doesn't matter because they were one big family- _awkward, dysfunction, and most definitely chaotic, but a family nonetheless-_ and he won't have them any other way.

"Baby herbivore- No… _mio nebbia_ ….." He mumbled as he placed his hand over her indigo locks and patted her head, "Believe in your Flames. Believe in your resolve. Believe in _yourself."_

He then smirked and said-

"If you say that I am your family, then who am I to refute, my Baby Mist?"


	5. Carpe diem

**Carpe diem**

 _used to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future._

~O~

* * *

~O~

Before he could open his eyes, Kyoya just knew he was in some sort of infirmary- _or hospital_ \- from the smell of disinfectant that he could pick up from his nose. Not knowing he was in a hostile territory or not, he sent out a pulse of Cloud Flames, and sighed in relief when he sensed no one around. Only then did he open his eyes – _only to shut them back at the awful brightness that seemed to momentarily blind him_ \- and tentatively opened them again after blinking several times and adjusting his vision, and found himself staring at a white ceiling.

Taking a deep breath, Kyoya eyed the heart monitor beeping to the side as well as the IV that has been inserted in his hand. He wasn't feeling pain, that means that either he has been healed by some Sun – _an unlikely thought_ \- or he was high on meds that numbed his pain enough.

He tried to rack his brain to figure out what he had been doing this time to end up in a hospital – _as well as why haven't the peanut gallery gathered around to fuss over his health_ \- only to hiss in pain as his head throbbed achingly. Memories flashed in his mind of-

 _Dying- waking as a five year old- his parents- Fon-meeting his Baby Sky- looking for kidnapped children- getting himself kidnapped- deathgoreblood- killing those stupid herbivores- facing the Boss- painpainpainpainpain- Blue hair, indigo eyes- Indigo Flames-_

 ** _"The f-f-fire says you're family….. y-you are, r-r-right?"_**

 _Chrome!_

Where is she? Where is his Baby Mist?!

Kyoya snatched off the oxygen mask from his mouth and tugged off the IV from his hand. Pulling off the sheets from his body, he shifted his legs to the side and struggled down the bed-

-and he _would_ have been on his way to massacre every single herbivore in his path on his quest to find his Baby Mist, if not for the doors of his hospital room to open at that very moment, and a _particularly_ irate nurse screeching at him as if he had just kicked an adorable puppy.

"What are you _doing?!"_ the herbivore woman screeched in an awfully loud tone, making him wince and glare at her. "You're _not_ getting out of this room, if I have any say in this!"

Kyoya growled under his breath and hissed out, "You're crowding, herbivore. Get out of my way."

The woman scoffed. "I'm not scared of you, kid. Besides, what can a little cutie like you actually _do?"_

She just _did. not. say that._

Glowering at her, Kyoya summoned his Mist Flames and condensed them to appear like his tonfas, and hissed out, "I will bite you to death!"

And he would've done it too, if not for the pair of indigo eyes peeking from behind the door.

"…..Purple-san?"

Kyoya halted comically – _and barely stopped himself from face faulting to the ground_ \- as he stared at his Baby Mist – _who also wore a child-sized hospital gown_ -who was hovering behind the herbivore nurse, and sighed in relief. The Mist tonfas disappeared from his hands, as he reluctantly greeted his Baby Mist.

 _"Mio nebbia."_ He whispered in acknowledgement, and a small, shy smile bloomed on the younger girl's lips.

The nurse huffed in exasperation as she mumbled, "Glad you have your priority sorted out." To which he shot her a glare. The insufferable woman then shooed him back on his bed, saying, "You're still injured, Hibari-kun. If you move around too much, you will only disrupt your health." She fluffed his pillows and then tugged his blankets to his chest. "I will inform your parents that you've woken up. They've been very worried about you, Hibari-kun."

Saying this, she turned to his Baby Mist and smiled softly at the five year old child and patted her head. "I guess you want to stay with your friend, Nagi-chan?"

The girl blushed and nodded shyly.

The woman smiled. "Okay then, have fun. I'll come back in an hour or so with your medicines, okay?"

Another nod.

The nurse gave his baby Mist another sweet smile, and left the room –but not before shooting Kyoya a stern look.

Kyoya huffed, and glanced at his Baby Mist, who shuffled her feet nervously as she poked her fingers and peeked at him shyly every once in a while. Sighing in exasperation – _and knowing that his Baby Mist was too shy to make the first move_ \- he patted the space next to him on the bed, and the younger girl beamed as she shuffled closer to him, and crawled up next to him.

Kyoya let his eyes wander over her young body, and narrowed his eyes at her bandaged hand – _which he remembered had been burned by the lightning Flames of that_ _ **bastardo**_ _-_

"I-I'm f-f-fine." The young girl whispered, snapping him out of his murderous thoughts. His Baby Mist gave him a small, shy smile and said, "T-T-Thank y-you, P-Purple-san, for s-saving m-m-me."

"I don't deserve your thanks, considering you got into trouble because of me." He mumbled under his breath as he turned his head away from her, but to his surprise a thin, dainty hand was placed on his cheek and his head was forcefully turned back to look at the indigo haired girl who had narrowed her doe-like eyes at him.

"Purple-san," she said, her voice had a hint of steel in them, and he almost thought he was seeing _his_ Mist Chrome for a moment. "I d-don't c-c-care w-whatever y-you think, t-t-the o-only t-thing I-I-I k-know is t-that P-Purple-san i-is f-family, a-and he s-s-saved me. So, d-don't w-w-worry a-about silly t-things, okay?"

His grey eyes softened and he murmured, "Okay."

.

* * *

.

His reunion with his parents didn't turn out that good. Why? Well, there's only one reason for that…..

His parents were _insufferable_.

"Kyo-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" His mother wailed as she embraced him tightly in her arms and sobbed. "Do you know how worried I was? Do you?! Because I was really, _really_ worried, you know! And then Seiji-kun was being a meanie by saying that you're so tough and you can take care of yourself –and I _know_ the moron was worried too since he too sent out his officers to look for you- _wait, that's not the point-!_ The point is that your stupid father didn't understand that you're _seven_ and you're _my_ _cute little Kyo-chan_ and you're _innocent_ , and _adorable_ and _oh-so-precious_ , you are someone to be protected and not the one to be sent to deal with grown-ups matters-!"

"Yuna….."

"-and then you got kidnapped and _I was so worried, Kyo-chan!_ I asked Yuiichi-san to look for you, and even Seiji-kun ordered his officers to search for you, but there was no track of you! And then when we finally found you somehow, you were unconscious and hurt and I was _so, so scared-"_

"Yuna-"

"-how dare those monsters hurt my _adorable_ little Kyo-chan?! Don't they have a heart?! How dare they kidnap innocent kids and make a business out of selling them as slaves, _those utter bastardo-"_

"Yuna!" Seiji finally snapped in an exasperated tone. "Stop choking Kyoya-kun from your hug, will you? He's turning a _really_ strange shade of green and blue, you know?"

And true to his words, Kyoya – _who was being choked unknowingly by his own mother_ (Really, what an way to die…. Pineapple Carnivore must be laughing at him, he just _knew_ it!)\- was turning an alarming shade of greenish blue as his mother was hugging him just a _tad_ bit tighter.

Realizing that she has been unknowingly choking her own son, Yuna quickly released her son from her embrace with a sheepish chuckle. "Ehehehehehe, oops?"

Kyoya shot his oblivious mother a glare as he panted harshly and inhaled as much air as he could. A few moments later his complexion turned much, much better –even though it was a bit too pale.

Thank goodness his Baby Mist had returned earlier to her room, or else his dignity would've taken a deep dive.

"How are you, son?" Hibari Seiji asked his son as he sat on the only spare chair in the room.

"Like someone had almost choked me to death." Kyoya mumbled gruffly as he shot his mother a look of annoyance.

Both his parents chuckled at his words.

"Still, that was very irresponsible of you, Kyoya-kun." His father frowned as he lectured him in a disapproving tone. "You shouldn't have gone out all by yourself. Tokyo isn't like Namimori, Kyoya-kun. What if something had happened to you?"

Kyoya just snorted at his words. _As if a carnivore like him would easily go down._

A vein popped over his father's forehead, "You ungrateful brat-"

"Now, now," Yuna said calmly as she patted her husband's back a bit _too_ forcefully, almost making him wheeze. She smiled at her husband – _and if her smile was a bit_ _ **too**_ _pointed, well…. There's a reason Kyoya calls her an omnivore_ \- and said, "we can play the blame game later, when Kyo-chan is safe and sound back home. Right, _Seiji-kun?"_

Hibari Seiji gulped as he sweat bullets and mumbled hastily, "A-Ah, o-of course, Y-Yuna-chan!" He stuttered. "Whatever you say."

Yuna's smile brightened and she turned to Kyoya and exclaimed. "See, Kyo-chan? Isn't yur Tou-san so _wonderful_ and _understanding?"_

The corner of Kyoya's lips twitched upwards as he smirked smugly at his Carnivore father – _who acted like a headless herbivore before his mother_ \- who just shot him an annoyed glare for laughing at his expense. Not that Kyoya cared.

His mother is the best. Period.

* * *

"Take it."

"No."

"Take it."

"No."

"Oh for god's sake _you little brat_ just open your goddamn mouth and take the medicine like you're told to do so!" The nurse snapped as she glared at him with her dark eyes.

He just gave her a bored look and replied flatly, "No."

Sasagawa Shizuka pinched the bridge of her nose as she gave the eight year old child an annoyed look. "Look kid, the pain meds must be wearing off by now. You need to take your mdicines on time, or else you will only hurt yourself."

True enough, he was feeling a bit sore by now –and every now and then his lungs _hurt_ \- but he was Hibari Kyoya and no one – _sans his Decimo Sawada Tsunayoshi or his Sun Ryohei_ \- can make him follow doctor's order. The reason was simple- he did not trust them. _Not one bit._

And nope, it was not because he just _knew_ the medicine was bitter. Nuh-uh. Not at all. Anyone who says otherwise is _clearly_ lying, obviously.

Besides, he was _fine_. He did need any medicine at all.

(A lie.)

"Oh, for God's sake-" Pinching the bridge of her nose, the nurse just glared at him. A moment later, her eyes brightened as an idea occurred to her – _he could almost see a bulb lighting over her head as she had an 'eureka!' moment_ \- and then she smirked and said, "Alright then, Don't take them. I will just tell that cute little friend of yours that Purple-san doesn't care about his own health and is not taking his medicines on time." Her eyes twinkled in mischief as she whispered in a fake conspiring tone, "She will feel _really_ bad, you know."

Kyoya's resolve faltered just a _tiny_ little bit.

He narrowed his eyes and growled, "You won't dare-!"

If possible, her smirk just widened. "Oh, believe me you brat, I _so_ will. Unless you be a good little boy and take your medicine like you're told to. Or else-"

She didn't even need to complete her sentence as Kyoya quickly snatched the pills from her hand and swallowed them after downing a glass of water. He didn't even grimace at the bitter taste as he glared at the woman who was smiling smugly like the cat who just caught the canary.

Shizuka patted the stubborn child's hair, and couldn't help but coo at his antics. The kid may be a headache and a half on daily basis, but she can't deny that he was truly _adorable_. "Aren't you a nice boy, huh, Kyoya-kun?"

Kyoya bristled as he glared at her. How dare she pat him as if he were a little animal and patronize him with her damn _cooing?_

 _What is he, a dog?_

* * *

Amber eyes glared defiantly at grey ones, and the owner of said eyes pouted. "Cloud-san is bad." The child with fluffy brown hair said as he clung to the stuffed lion 'Natsu' that had been gifted by Kyoya before he had left for his – _self-proclaimed_ \- mission. "Cloud-san broke his promise with Tsu-kun. Tsu-kun is angry with Cloud-san."

Kyoya sighed in exasperation. "Baby Omnivore-"

"No."

"But I didn't even say anything yet-"

"No."

"Just listen to me-"

"No."

"Oi, you-"

 _"No."_

"Pfft-" the two boys snapped their heads towards the door where a certain nurse stood as she tried her very best to smother her giggles –and failed spectacularly. _"Oh. My. God."_ She gasped as she took in her much needed breaths since she couldn't help but laugh continuously for fifteen minutes straight. "I seriously can't believe there's actually someone who can tame the grumpy Skylark."

A vein popped over Kyoya's head and he snapped at her, "Get out herbivore, or I'll bite you to death."

"Sure, sure." She waved off his threats with practices ease – _considering the fact that she's been dealing with his antics for about a week now, it's obvious that she has gotten immune to the child's threats by now_ \- and then smiled at both the boys and said, "I will be on my way then, but before that, there's one thing I need to ask." She then stepped to the side, revealing a certain indigo haired child hiding behind her legs. "Do you mind another one to keep you company?"

Nagi peeked at both of them from beneath her bangs and poked her fingers nervously. Tsuna tilted his head (the orange fire crowd inside him in delight as soon as his eyes fell on the other girl, as it whispered fervently in his ears about _MistMistMistMist- friend- good- indigo- Mist-!_ ) and nodded his head cutely. "Uh-huh." While Kyoya too nodded in greeting to the Baby Mist.

Shizuka patted the girl's hair and said softly, "Have fun, kiddo."

Saying this she left the room and clicked the door shut behind her. The girl with indigo hair shifted on her feet nervously and glanced at the brown haired boy warily.

Sighing in exasperation at his Baby Mist's shyness, Kyoya held out his hand and beckoned the mist closer to him with a soft look in his eyes. The girl's tense shoulders relaxed just a fraction as she slowly walked nearer to them, and crawled into Kyoya's bed, a bit nearer to Kyoya, and a distance away from the brown haired child.

Kyoya grunted and looked at Tsuna, who was now giving the girl a curious look. "Baby Omnivore, the reason I was late because I got you a new friend." He did not mention why or how he was injured, because according to him, that was unimportant.

Tsuna's eyes widened a bit, before he looked at the indigo haired child, who shrunk back at the sudden attention. When Kyoya's words finally registered in his mind, Tsuna smiled at the girl with an intensity that could even rival the sun's, and exclaimed, "Really? That's amazing Cloud-san!" He then introduced himself to the his new friend, because that's what you do to make friends, right? "Hi! Tsu-kun is Tsu-kun! Who are you, Mist-chan?"

Kyoya almost choked on his own spit as soon as he heard Tsuna's words. _Baby Omnivore, said what now-?!_

The indigo haired girl's cheeks flushed red as she replied shyly, "U-Um,m-my name is S-S-Sasaki Nagi. N-Nice t-to m-meet you, Tsu-san."

"that's not his name." Kyoya answered in exasperation when he realised that his Baby mist thought Tsuna's name is Tsu-kun. _Wait-_ "Hold on, you said your name is Nagi?" He asked, bewildered.

She shot him a confused look. "U-Um, yes?"

He frowned. Why did she call herself Chrome in past life? Does this have anything to do with Pineapple Carnivore?

(Among all of Decimo's guardians, Chrome had been the politest, sweetest and the most secretive one. She gave her love and loyalty to others without any questions, but when it came to loving her back or answering to her loyalty, she would shy away from them. It was as if she didn't think of herself as someone who deserved such good things.

It made her fellow guardians grit their teeth in frustration and barely repress blood-lust when they thought of what had actually happened to their sweet Mist to turn her this way. They had vowed to _destroy_ the fuckers who did this to her, but sadly they never found out about her past. Chrome didn't like to speak of her past, and Mukuro was even more secretive than her. Getting anything out from any of their twin Mists about chrome's past had been useless.

So, in the end, the Decimo and his Guardians just decided to leave it be. If Chrome wanted to forget her painful past, then who were they to dig it out once again which would only result in hurting her?)

He shook his head. He really needed to stop getting lost in thoughts.

"How did you meet Cloud-san?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"Cloud-san?" She asked questioningly. Tsuna pointed at Kyoya, and realization dawned on her. "A-Ah, you m-m-mean P-Purple-san. Purple-san s-s-saved m-me from b-bad people." She mumbled quietly. "H-He s-s-said h-he i-is m-my f-f-family."

Tsuna's eyes brightened. "Really? Cloud-san really is amazing!"

Nagi nodded her head enthusiastically. "I-I know r-right! P-Purple-san i-is r-really, really strong! H-He d-d-defeated the b-bad p-people so e-easily! He e-even b-beat up t-their boss!"

"Tsu-kun also thinks that Cloud-san is very strong! You know, Cloud-san has many minions in Namimori who Cloud-san says keep peace and beat up bad people. Cloud-san is always thinking of others. Isn't he so nice?!"

"Uh-huh!"

Kyoya's cheeks flushed a deep red in embarrassment as his baby Sky and Baby Mist gushed about 'how amazing their Cloud-san/Purple-san is' ignoring blatantly the fact that the person they're talking about is sitting right next to them.

Kyoya shut his eyes in mortified silence and vowed to _never_ let Pineapple Carnivore learn about this particular incident, or else the _bastardo_ will never let him live it down.

(Somewhere in Estraneo famiglia's laboratory, a certain indigo haired boy – _whose body had been hooked with several machines_ \- frowned. Why did he have a feeling that he was missing out on _gold_ level blackmail material and a _wonderful_ chance on causing mayhem?)

* * *

 **A/N:- Cloud-san really** ** _is_** **amazing. Don't you agree? Lol**

 **(P.S. At the rate this story is going, I think the kiddie minions would end up forming a cult under the name of the great Hibari Kyoya. How many of you would like to join the cult alongside our adorable kiddos? I sure won't mind that… XD)**

* * *

~O~

 _ **EXTRA-**_

A few days later, when Nagi's parents (reluctantly) came to fetch their daughter from the hospital, Kyoya took one look at them, and slammed the door shut right before their faces. Leaving his Baby Mist in hands of such fake carnivores who obviously didn't like her – _he could see the indifference in their eyes regarding Nagi, besides he hadn't forgotten her words about how her mother abused her verbally and emotionally_ \- was the level of stupidity that even _his_ Lightning herbivore won't dare to attempt.

They had tried everything they could to make Kyoya let Nagi go with her parents – _the attempted bribing and blackmails were some of the most amusing ones_ \- but when the Hibari couple realized their son will not let his – _self-proclaimed_ \- sister go, they just sighed in exasperation and grumbled about how their _"Kyo-chan was being an insufferable, stubborn brat."_ and went along with his decision.

Dealing with the Sasaki couple had been easy. It didn't take Seiji long to get some evidence against the Sasaki couple regarding Nagi's abuse – _Nagi's Nanny had witnessed a many times how her own mother verbally abused her daughter, while Nagi's step-father was a talkative drunk who hadn't realized he had actually spoken his vicious thoughts regarding the poor girl during one of his drunken stupors to his companions_ \- and after that, persuading them had been _way_ too easy. After that, adopting Nagi into their family had been way a piece of cake.

None of the Hibari couple had any problem with it. Seiji had sighed in relief that he will finally have a child who is much, _much_ sane while Yuna – _who had always wanted a daughter to spoil_ \- was the happiest.

And so, here they were in Hibari home, smiling at the five year old and ushering her into her new room, and fussing over her in a way the child had never ever experienced. Nagi just glanced at her –adopted- older brother – _who was the very reason she get to live in such heart-warming dream_ (Because what else could it be other than a dream? Her indigo fire said otherwise, but she dared not believe it. Because too many times before had her dreams shattered into pieces, and now she dared not hope this to be forever, or else this pretty dream will too crash and _burn_ into a thousand pieces.

But even so, Nagi was really _, really_ glad to get a chance to live in this amazing dream. And if it really is real and not a dream, then she prayed to god that even if this is not forever, she didn't care. Because having a loving mother and father and Purple-san as family was everything – _and more_ \- that she had ever asked for.)

Grey eyes stared from the shadows at the indigo haired girl blushing shyly as her –adopted- parents fussed over her, and couldn't help but smile fondly. He might've changed the future with his one selfish action, but honestly, he didn't care. Because the joyous smile on his Baby Mist's lips he could see now had never ever grazed _his_ Chrome's lips. And even if his Baby Mist's happiness – _even if it didn't last long enough for some reason_ \- ended up resulting in changing the future, he honestly didn't care. Because nothing in this whole world mattered more to him his Baby Mist – _his sister's_ \- happiness.

He was sure his Decimo would've agreed with him.

(And so, the Mist finally belonged.)

 **~O~**

* * *

 **A/N:- and….. that's a wrap. Reviews? Anyone?**


	6. EXTRAS:Of Carnivores and (adorable)Demon

_**Chapter Title- EXTRAS:- Of Carnivores and (adorable) Demons-in-disguise**_

~O~

 **EXTRA 1 \- A Carnivore-in-training**

Nagi sat on a couch in a leisure manner in her new home, her eyes darted around the beautifully written words on a book. Seiji –who had been passing by the room- stared at his newest child softly, and greeted her,

"What are you reading, Nagi-chan?"

The five year old child glanced up at her adopted father, and blinked her doe like eyes that almost melted his heart. "U-Um," She whispered shyly, "I-It is j-j-just a b-book Onii-sama gave m-me." She stuttered a bit, thankfully not as much as she did when she had arrived in her new home a few weeks ago.

Seiji did a double take at her words. "Kyoya-kun did?" He exclaimed in disbelief. Huh, maybe his grumpy, violent boy is finally using his common sense for his new sister….

Wondering what kind of book Kyoya had given to Nagi, Hibari Seiji peered at the Book's title, and paled when he read a few words from the book-

~O~

 **The Holy Law of Food Chain**

 _(Alternate Title- How to be a true Carnivore)_

 _By **-Hibari Kyoya**_

 ** _Introduction_** _-_

 _People are divided three categories- Herbivores, Carnivores, and Omnivores. Herbivores are weak and pathetic little shits who think they're oh-so-important, but in reality, they're not. Carnivores are the strong ones who have every right to show herbivores their rightful places and defend their territories. Omnivores are super rare ones- they usually act like a herbivore, but when push comes to shove, they show their true colours and are often as fearsome as a Carnivore. There are some important rules that must be followed by a true Carnivore (and to some extent, an Omnivore)-_

 _Rule no. 1 \- A true Carnivore must acquire a territory and be strong enough to defend it from fake-herbivores (the ones who think they're carnivores but actually aren't) and other carnivores._

 _Rule no. 2- A true carnivore protects the innocent herbivores under their protection. _

_Rule no. 3- A true Carnivore disciplines the herbivores to follow the rules in their territory, and make sure to punish the ones who break the rule._

 _Rule no. 4 \- Crowding is **not** allowed in a Carnivore territory (and if there're actually herbivores idiotic enough to do so, then they should be bitten to death)_

 _Rule no. 5-_

"Oh my god," Seiji moaned, "Of course, I should've expected this. This is my unreasonable, bloodthirsty son I'm talking about. _Why_ did I even expect that he'd actually give his own sister something _normal_ to read." He then paused and whispered under his breath in despair, "Does he even know what _normal_ actually means?"

Nagi blinked her eyes at her adopted father and asked in a puzzled tone, "Um….. Tou-san?"

Seijji snatched the book she had been reading – _that happened to be handwritten by Kyoya himself_ \- and said, "You shouldn't read this stupid book, Nagi-chan, or else Kyoya-kun will corrupt your sweet, adorable self with his violent ways."

She uncertainly shrugged her shoulders, "Um….. O-Okay?"

.

.

.

Nagi's lips bloomed in a small smile as she walked happily back to her (new) home after her first day at School. She had been very nervous today, and had even thought that others won't like her and that she won't be able to make any friends. But surprisingly, everything went well. Orange-san was in the same class as her, so she wasn't exactly alone, and not only that, but during the lunch period – _while Orange-san had went away to look for Purple-onii-sama to pester him_ (his words, not hers)-a really pretty girl even invited her to join her and her friend for lunch. Kyoko-chan is really, _really_ kind and friendly, and even though her friend Hana-chan is a bit scary, she did share a few candies with her, so Nagi guessed Hana-can is kind of like Onii-sama – _scary from outside, but really, **really** soft and nice from inside._

Nagi was so lost in her happy thoughts that she didn't notice where she was going, and unfortunately ended up bumping into someone. "S-Sorry." Nagi winced as she shrunk her neck a bit lower – _out of habit_ -and apologized softly.

"Tch, damn brat, can't you see where you're going?" a harsh voice snapped at her, making her quiver a bit. She glanced up, and gulped in fear when she realised she had bumped into a fierce Middle-schooler, who wasn't actually alone.

"S-Sorry." She whispered again.

The boy's friend peered at Nagi and narrowed his eyes, "I think I've seen her before…." He mumbled. A moment later, his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Oh, I remember it now! I saw her last week with Hibari-san!"

The other two boys from their little group stared at him in disbelief. "Hibari-san? As in the Demon Child of Namimori?"

"Who else?"

The boy who had bumped in Nagi glared at her with his brown eyes harshly and hissed out, "Hey you, how do you know Hibari Kyoya?"

Nagi's lips quivered as she said, "O-Onii-sama? W-why do y-you need O-Onii-sama f-f-for?"

"You're that demon's sister?!" The third boy exclaimed in shock –and barely repressed shiver of terror.

The second boy chuckled uneasily as he patted the brown eyes boy "Oi, I don't think we should mess with her …or else we'll have to face the demon's wrath." However, the other boy only shrugged hi off and death glared at Nagi.

"You know, your brother had been a nuisance for us…. How many times has he beaten us for stupid, little things?" he grabbed her collar harshly, and pulled her towards him, and sneered at her. "This really is a good chance to take a revenge on him…."

The boy clenched his fist in anger, and the fight began…..

(A few minutes later…..)

Nagi poked the cheek of the mean boy who had been very rude to her, and watched him twitch in pain, but did not get up. She glanced around at the other three kids who laid unconscious a few distance away, frothing from their mouth. She then looked at the image of her Onii-sama scowling at the downed herbivores, his signature tonfas clenched in his hands.

"Thank you…." she whispered, and soon, the image of his Onii-sama nodded at her and dissolved in indigo flames. She once again eyed the unconscious Middle Schoolers lying in the streets, and for some reason, she was reminded of the words she had read in her brother's handwritten book.

Sighing, she scratched her cheek and mumbled, "huh, Onii-sama w-was right…. Fake-herbivores s-should not t-try to h-harm carnivores…."She paused for a moment, and wondered, "W-Wait, d-does that m-make m-me a Carnivore too?"

For some reason, the indigo fire –that had curled protectively inside her- started rolling around as if cackling in glee.

Nagi puffed her cheeks. _What was so funny about that?_

* * *

 ** _EXTRA 2_ \- Playing House**

On a fine afternoon, Tsuna found himself in a playground with Mist-chan and Cloud-san who were arguing over what to play –more like Cloud-san glowering and refusing to agree to Nagi's demands, who was looked like a downtrodden kitty and unknowingly making Tsu-kun's heart clench in pity.

"Onii-sama-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"You can't-"

"No."

In a rare fit of anger, Nagi scowled and threw some sand into her brother's face, making him choke on accident. "Onii-sama is being really unreasonable!" She pouted petulantly, and she was too angry to notice that she hasn't stuttered at all this time. "We always play ' _mafia'!_ I want to play something else for once!"

Kyoya spat out some sand that had somehow gotten into his mouth, and frowned as he spoke to Nagi, "I do not agree, especially when I know that your idea of playing _something else_ happens to be 'play house'."

Nagi's cheeks flushed pink at his words. "It's better than the _mafia_ game you're always making us play."

"It is not-"

Tsuna sighed. There they go again.

(For some reason, the orange fire inside him was giddy – _but then again, these days it was always giddy_ –especially in presence of Cloud-san and Mist-chan. Maybe it is happy that Tsuna is finally making friends? Who knows?)

Before their argument can escalate even further, Tsuna interrupted them, "Tsu-kun thinks we should listen to Mist-chan for once." Tsuna mumbled as he gave Kyoya and apologetic glance as the older boy gave him a look that said 'Traitor'. "Mist-chan is right, Cloud-san, we are always playing _mafia_ anyways. Playing House once won't hurt anyone, right?"

(For some reason, his orange fire sent him a foreboding feeling and he wondered why he thought that this would not end well.)

Kyoya had grumbled petulantly for a while, but under the combined puppy dog eyes of Nagi and Tsuna, he soon deflated like a balloon and agreed easily.

So now, here they were, Playing House –of all the things- peacefully like _good, innocent_ little kids-

Kyoya flipped a rock away in his fit of anger and hissed out like a disgruntled kitten, "For God's sake, I will not be playing the role of a _Mother_ -"

"But you'd look so cute in an apron, Onii-sama!" Nagi argued back with a pout.

"-and what does that have to do with me playing the role of _'Mother'_ –you know what, never mind, I'm not playing this stupid game." Kyoya said in a no nonsense tone as he tried to get up and storm away from their position and was ready to go bite some herbivores to death to cool down his anger.

(For some reason, a collective shiver of terror ran down every delinquent's spine in Namimori and they shuddered as they wondered if the demon child was on Warpath again….)

Nagi sulked a bit as she mumbled, "Onii-sama is such a bully….." Her eyes then brightened as she exclaimed, "Alright then, you can be _Father_ , then!" she clapped happily.

Kyoya paused in his warpath (the foreboding feeling lifted up from the delinquents' immediately and they all heaved a sigh of relief in unison) and wondered. That…. Could actually work…

Seeing that her words were having effect on her brother, Nagi beamed as she ushered him back and patted the spot next to her for him to sit down, to which he reluctantly complied.

She then clapped her hands and chattered excitedly, "Alright then, so Onii-sama will be _Father_ , and I will be your _child_. _Father_ goes to office every day and works till late hours, while _Mother_ stays at home and take care of the _child_ , aka me!"

"Who is _Mother_ , then?" Kyoya asked, even though he had a feeling he knew what she would say. But that can't be right. Nagi couldn't possibly mean-

"Why, it's Orange-san, of course!" Nagi beamed.

Kyoya sighed. Of course. He should've known.

"Do you mind-?" Kyoya turned to ask his Baby Sky, only to blink in bewilderment as he saw Tsuna's cheeks turning pink for some reason.

Wait….. was he _blushing?_

Tsuna didn't understand why his face was on fire for some reason –metaphorically, of course- and it didn't help that the orange fire was – _for some reason_ \- cackling in glee and cooing teasingly at him. He just stammered out a reply in rush when Cloud-san turned to him, and honestly, in his dazed embarrassment he didn't even remember half of what he had said, but it must be something right since Cloud-san had relaxed at his reply and turned his attention back to Nagi.

Nagi held out her hands and furrowed her brows in concentration. A moment later, her indigo fire responded to her request as it condensed and in a flash of indigo flames, materialized in form of a cute apron – _with pink frills of all the things!_ \- and a kiddy suitcase in her hands. "Here!" She beamed as she handed the apron to Tsuna, and the toy briefcase to Kyoya. "Now we're all set!"

Kyoya sighed in exasperation as he eyed the toy briefcase in equal amounts annoyance and impress. "Do we really need to go this far just for a stupid make-believe game?"

Nagi puffed her cheeks and said, "Onii-sama, you don't get to say that, considering that you always insist on using (toy) guns when we play _mafia!"_

Kyoya's eye twitched – _and he ignored his ears that were turning red with_ _embarrassment_ \- as he said, "You need the practice!" he defended himself.

"Right, right." She said with an eye roll.

He just huffed and grumbled, "Oh, just get on with it."

Nagi just smiled brightly at him, while Tsuna shook his head. For all his grumpiness, Cloud-san is exceptionally gentle towards him and Mist-chan and really can't say no to them –especially to Mist-chan.

(' _Tsundere…'_ his orange fire mumbled conspiringly in barely concealed sadism and glee. _'Cloud… tsundere…..'_

Tsuna blinked and hummed under his breath, as he tried to recall what Tsundere actually means. Wait… didn't he once accidentally read that word in one of those cartoon books his Mama hides under her bed, and when he had asked, she told him it refers to people who are cold from outside but gentle and warm from inside?

….Huh, that actually explains a lot.)

* * *

 **EXTRA 3-** _**Dreams**_

Rokudo Mukuro. That is what his name is. Or what the doctors –scientists?- call him sometimes. But they rarely call him that. He is usually called _test subject_ , _target_ , and the most preferred one - _Experiment No. 583978._

He would have been offended, and very much protested against this basic lack of human etiquette, _if_ could feel anything, that is. Mostly they keep him drugged enough that he can't even twitch his fingers, and sometimes when he's a bit conscious he is floating in a tank of greenish liquid –with strange wires attached to all over his body- as they talk about things that don't even make sense to him.

The only time he is fully conscious is when they want to test the success rates of their experiment –which means mock fights and survival tests against other test subjects, and by now Mukuro has learned that to survive and stay alive he has to _win_ at all costs –even if it means torturing, maiming or killing others….. even if it means that he has to dance like a puppet under their tunes as if they were the puppeteer and held his strings – _which they did._

Emotions were a foreign concept for him. He didn't know what they were. He didn't know what the feeling was that burned inside him when he had to kill a fellow test subject for his own survival. He didn't understand why something deep inside him bubbled like hot lava when the doctors –scientists?- talk about the next experiment to perform on him as if they were just talking about the weather. Neither did he understand the cold that settled against his bones when he hears a child scream when he's somewhat conscious in the middle of night or the shiver that crawls up his spine when he hears the whimpers, crying, and begging of test subjects (children) who had the (un)fortunate luck of being his opponent for mock fights or survival games.

He may not know what emotions were, but he knew he didn't want to feel this way. At all.

Most of the time, he is dazed and high on drugs, and when he's conscious, all he can feel are these strange emotions that threaten to swallow him whole.

But one day, something changed. For once, he was lucid – _well, lucid enough to recognize that he was actually somewhat conscious_ \- even though for some reason, everything was hazy. But there was something that was cutting through the haze and seemed to pierce through his very soul- and that happened to be a pair of grey eyes.

He hadn't stayed long in that haze -dream?- since the very next second he found himself submerged in the disgusting green liquid, and was forced to incoherent drowsiness when the men in lab coats inject more drugs in him.

But for some reason, those piercing grey eyes never faded in his mind.

The strange dreams didn't leave him. Instead, they kept coming back to him at strangest of times. The haze in his dreams was always there, so were the grey eyes.

Sometimes, he would feel bursts of emotions that he was _sure_ couldn't be his own –a warm fuzzy feeling that curled in his gut, or the pleasant humming in the back of his mind or the warmth that settled inside him protectively…. Sometimes, if he concentrated enough, he could even hear words like _"Purple-san", "Onii-sama",_ and _"Orange-san"…._ But the words never made sense to him.

It wasn't until when he was subjected to a particularly harsh experiment –one of those _monsters_ (because what else could they be?!) actually shot him with a strange bullet- that _thing_ curling inside him protectively snapped at the agonizing _painpainpainpainpainpainpainpain_ that had seized him in it's hold and for some reason he was being _tortured_ and was made to feel _agony_ and-

 _Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhyhim?whatdidhedotodeservethis- OhMyGodsomeonepleaseHelpMeSaveMePlease-_

-and suddenly, the pain was gone, and he found himself staring at piercing grey eyes, messy raven locks and a chubby face that was grumpily scowling at him-

-and he dazedly realized that he had somehow broken through the haze since he was _finally_ seeing the owner of those piercing grey eyes in flesh.

The child with grey eyes yawned and patted his head –and he marveled at how _real_ this felt- as he mumbled sleepily, "Don't worry, I'll stay with you the whole night…. As long as I'm here, no nightmares will claim you tonight." The child declared as he tucked him(?) in bed.

A stuffed dove and a stuffed owl was shoved into his hands as the grey eyed boy said, "Sleep, _la mia nebbia…._ I'll protect you, I promise."

For some reason, a warm feeling curled inside him, and he unconsciously gripped the stuffed owl a bit tighter in his arms. He hadn't known when he had fallen asleep, but he knew that it was the best sleep he had ever had in his whole life till now.

When he woke up, he found himself back in a white room, connected with wires of all kinds as the _monsters_ in lab coats crowed around him in glee as they babbled to each other about "Experiment Success!" and "Initiate Phase two". Their voices were akin to static in his ears, as all he could think of was the pair of glittering, grey eyes, and his warm touch as he patted his head.

There were only two words that echoed in his mind again and again like a broken recorder-

 _"Mia nebbia…"_

 _My Mist._

* * *

 **OMAKE -**

Fon was _very_ irritated, but of course, his true feelings were hidden behind a calm expression and a pleasant smile, as if he were having a pleasant chat with some of his more favorable clients rather than dealing with Infant-sized Arcobaleno who were screaming bloody murder at each other for some reason and causing utter chaos – _that's mostly Reborn's fault_. Unfortunately for him, the harsh truth was that he was in midst of a – _what was supposed to be a very important meeting between the Strongest Seven_ (eight, if you count Lal) _individuals on Earth, but in reality was just a pissing contest between infant-sized adults with the metaphorical sticks shoved far up their asses than should be healthy for normal people_ \- powwow with his fellow Arcobaleno, and for the umpteenth time that day he wondered why the fuck had he even agreed when Luce had gotten everyone to promise **–*cough*** guilt-trip ***cough*** -to keep in contact and have a get together at least once a year, and no one should miss that event.

Oh right, Reborn had forced them to agree with literal guns on their heads, and considering how _scary_ Reborn could get with a gun in his hands, _everyone_ had agreed fairly quickly.

So here he was now, stuck with infant-sized adults for the whole twenty-four hours – _and it hasn't even been five hours since the beginning of the meeting…. Oh gods, Why him?!_ \- and to make the matters worse, Yuna just _won't. stop. spamming him with messages._ Until he replies to her, that is.

He really regretted giving her his emergency contact number. (To be fair, he had only given it after Kyoya had clung to him for _hours_ , and threatened to not let go until he leaves behind some valid contact information. Which, while annoying, was _so_ damn adorable of his little nephew that he had almost thought to disagree _just_ so he could cuddle more with his _cute_ nephew and watch his brother-in-law sulk for being least favorite to Kyoya.)

Sighing in exasperation, he opened her messages, and rolled his eyes as she regaled him with tales of Kyoya's latest adventures – _something about getting kidnapped, and ending up getting out after destroying the kidnappers' base and getting a little duckling as a reward_ -

 _Um…. What?!_

He blinked and did a double take as he read her messages once again – _ignoring his fellow Arcobaleno's arguing as if it were background noise_ \- and sighed in exasperation. Apparently, his cute, little nephew not only got himself kidnapped, but he also got out himself –after destroying their base to pieces- and rescued the other kids, and also brought home with him a little girl whom he later adopted as his little sister – _after messing with her birth parents who weren't exactly that good as parents_. Huh, his nephew sure is busy.

He clicked on the image that Yuna sent him and his grey eyes widened slightly at the _adorable_ image that was displayed on his phone's screen. The background showed that the photo was taken in a hospital – _the hospital gowns that the both of them wore in the photo was a big enough sign_ \- and the florescent lights in the background illuminated the picture spectacularly. The picture showed two children –one was his eight year old grumpy – _but totally adorable_ \- nephew Kyoya, whose eyes – _that were usually alight with fierce emotions_ \- were warm like glistening pearls, and were staring softly at a dark blue haired child, who –coincidentally- was peeking at the older boy shyly. The fluorescent lights reflected perfectly by Kyoya's grey eyes, making him seem like a little, innocent angel. Ironic, considering Kyoya's epithet in Namimori is demon child – _which isn't exactly false_.

While Fon was gushing and cooing internally at his nephew's adorableness and his newest niece – _oh she's so cute!-_ angel-like appearance, he hadn't realized that the Arcobaleno – _who had been screaming bloody murder until now_ \- had paused their argument in exchange for watching him internally act like a fangirl while watching his phone.

Fon's phone was snatched –quite rudely, actually- by a certain blonde, who huffed, "How mean, kora! We're all trying to have a meeting here, and you are actually busy on your phone?! What's so mesmerizing that has gotten you so distracted, anyways?"

"Wait, give it back-"

Too late. Colonello had already glanced at his phone to look at what had gotten Fon so dazed, only to gape at the picture that was displayed on the screen.

"…Holy shit, Fon, when did you have a love child with _both_ Reborn and Viper _each_ , kora?! Wait, does it mean you three had a threesome and didn't tell _any of us?!"_ Colonello accused, and _oh god_ , he actually sounded _offended_ for some reason.

Cue a two minute silence.

And then, Chaos ensued –the likes of which usually would've made Reborn smug like a pleased cat if he wasn't shooting down a certain blabbermouth Rain Arcobaleno and Skull – _just for the heck of it._

* * *

 **A/N:- I. regret. nothing. *grins like a maniac***


	7. Alew

_**Alew-**_

Noun **.**

 _(obsolete, rare)_

 _A cry of despair._

 _~O~_

Yuna hummed a cheerful tune under her breath as she mixed the batter for pancakes. Well, she could've let the chef handle the cooking like he usually does, but –meh, she likes cooking for her adorable kids (and yes, it's plural now, she _finally_ got a daughter who is as cute and adorable as her Kyo-chan! Uwa-! She's _soooooooooo_ lucky!) so sue her! It doesn't help that – _for some reason_ \- Kyo-chan and Na-chan love everything she cooks –especially Kyo-chan. He would always stare at her handmade food with fondness and love – _and barely repressed nostalgia and sadness, which she doesn't understand… Why is her Kyo-chan sad when he sees her cook?_ \- and would eat everything she made with relish. And even if he doesn't praise her cooking like Seiji-kun and her adorable Na-chan does – _he's just a shy little thing, she's sure he'll overcome his shyness someday-_ he would still help her bring the unclean dishes to the kitchen and reluctantly mumble a "it was alright" before scurrying off to _god-knows-where_ with his cheeks blushing a cherry red.

Yuna sighed as she daydreamed about how cute her little Kyo-can and Na-chan are. She really doesn't understand why her husband is always complaining about Kyo-chan. How can he even think her Kyo-chan is violent and antisocial?! Seiji-kun must be seriously blind. Her Kyo-chan is just a bit shy and is sometimes too enthusiastic with martial arts. There's nothing wrong with that, considering she had spent her childhood watching her teenage brother obsessing over different kind of fighting styles in euphoric glee- her Kyo-chan is leagues better than her brother. Fon-nii was even worse than Kyo-chan during childhood.

She's sure na-chan and Kyo-chan's friend Tsuna-kun also think the same as husband clearly exasperates everything. Just because he doesn't get along well with his son –his fault considering he had once accidentally dropped Kyo-chan in his toddler years, making him subconsciously remember it- doesn't mean he has to make things even more difficult with his strict attitude. It's not that Seiji-kun didn't love Kyo-chan- on the contrary, it's exactly opposite. Seiji-kun loves Kyo-chan even more than he loves her, but he doesn't let it show.

And it doesn't help that he is always criticizing their son about one thing or another and nagging –more like scolding- him for littlest of things that were just him acting on his instincts. Ugh, maybe she really needs to revise his memory about how to _not_ treat a baby Cloud-in-training. This is why she hated dealing with non-mafia people – _they were just so clueless and skeptical about anything Flame related, and it just annoyed her to no end._

A pulse of _pure_ Cloud Flames dispersed in the surroundings, followed by shy Mist Flames that clung to the Cloud Flames in adoration and joy. A smile formed on her lips as her own repressed stormy Cloud Flames warmly greeted them.

Her kids were home.

She was about to greet them verbally, when suddenly, her flames – _that has been repressed by the Triads as per the terms of agreement for letting her go scot-free to live a civilian life_ \- recoiled in annoyance and disgust as a harsh warmth poked and probed her flames. Gasping, she stumbled and clutched her head and wished that the world would just stop spinning –and didn't even realize that in her stumble she actually dropped the bowl she had been missing the batter in on the floor, making it shatter into pieces.

Her secondary storm Flames slammed against the seal repressing most of her Flames in fury, and her Cloud Flames rattled indignantly as they raged to _killkillkillkillkillkillkill_ -

A whimper escaped her lips as the probing of the foreign warmth intensified, and her own Flames reacted violently- the prodding and probing of the foreign, uninviting warmth was akin to acid that was burning her from inside out-

Her flames resisted the –forced- soothing and warming lull of the foreign Flames-

 _Nononononono-_

 _Not. Home-_

 _can't….. betray….. home-_

-but to no avail. She had no means to resist against such powerful Flames –even if they disgusted her to her very core- and was so, _so_ different to the _warmjoyhappinesshome_ that she had felt when she was with Nana-

Her flames writhed, resisted and _screamed_ in agony as they resisted the bond that was being forced on them. Once upon a time, her flames had been very powerful, but ever since they had been repressed, they were now just an empty shell of what they once were. If this utter _bastardo_ managed to force a bond on her, then her flames would definitely rise up in retaliation, and the consequences would be _bad._

Gasping for breath, she stumbled and fell over her knees, and curled up as she tried to rein in her flames, and at the same time tried to resist the magnetic pull of the foreign flames-

 _Stopstopstopstopstop-_

Writhing in pain, she never noticed her own children rushing towards her and flailing around her in panic, babbling something in concern.

A groan escaped her lips as her own flames hissed and roared in fury –the sounds of her precious, adorable babies clambering in terror and worry only managed to enrage her even more. As her flames turned even more uncontrollable, her headache intensified and her vision blurred, and for a moment she wondered if she would die from Forced Harmony and Flames Overload-

And then suddenly, everything quietened down. She blinked her eyes as her blurry vision gained back it's clarity, and her intense headache soothed soothed down to just a bit of pain. Her breathing returned to normal a moment later, and she absentmindedly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Her flames were no longer rampaging, and instead, had been lulled to calm. She could still feel foreign flames that had been forcing harmony on her in the background, but they couldn't reach her anymore -it was as if a barrier had been erected between her and the disgusting Flames.

A feathery, lukewarm _something_ was curled around her in a possessive, yet affectionate hold, mixed with slightly cool sensation that would normally creep anyone out, but was only soothing her down even more. There was an undertone of surging warmth just underneath these sensations –not exactly overriding them, but _marking_ them. It was as if they have been claimed –or were in the process of doing so.

These sensations…. They were none other than _Flames_. (She would know, after all, she had been Flame Sensitive ever since she had been 'crippled' – _according to mafia terms_ \- regarding Flames usage.)

Flames she was _very_ familiar with.

Her eyes snapped open, and zeroed on the children surrounding her, staring at her in concern. Na-chan's eyes were blurred with tears that dripped down her eyes as she clutched her one hand, and Kyo-chan had grabbed her other hand. Both of their hands glowed a pretty indigo and purple respectively –Na-chan's indigo flickered unstably every few minutes or so, but she dared not stop. Her eyes widened and her face paled as a realization struck her like a hammer on a nail. Her children actively used Dying will flames.

 _Oh shit._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _._

"K-Kaa-san," Na-chan whimpered as she tentatively reached out to her with her other hand. "D-Don't _ever_ scare us like that, okay?" Her teary eyes reflected her _sadnessdespairsorrowmiserymelancholy_ and she begged, _"Please?"_

Her words seemed to snap her out of her trance as she tried to give her precious children an apologetic smile and pulled the both of them in a hug with trembling hands. "I apologise…." She whispered softly as she patted their backs soothingly –ignoring the exhaustion and ache in her arms- and kissed their hair fondly. "I won't let this happen again."

With their faces buried in her hug, the two children never noticed how the usually cheerful expression on their mother's face turned utterly cold, her grey eyes flashed with a chilly expression -that had once upon a time made even Reborn impressed- and only one thought ringing in her mind.

 _'Now, which utter **bastardo** Sky decided to invite themselves on **my** territory without permission and even tried to force harmony on me?!'_

* * *

Tsuna peeked from where he was hiding behind his mother's legs as she happily greeted the strange man wearing dirt-and smelly- clothes of a mine-worker whom she said was his "Papa". The "Papa" had laughed and hugged his mother, and then knelt down to hug him too, but Tsuna stumbled backwards before he could grab him. This "Papa" looked hurt, and Tsuna felt guilty for shying away from him, but that didn't men he was going to be friendly to this "Papa" person. He looked nice, sure, and by the way he treated his mother, he must be nice too. But for some reason, he was apprehensive of this "Papa" person.

 _His orange fire didn't like him._

And that never meant a good thing. At all.

* * *

"Isn't my tuna-fishy so adorable~? Yes, yes he is~" Iemitsu cooed as at his fie year old son and tried to give him a bear hug. Keyword- _tried_. For some reason, Tsuna would always panic as soon as he neared him, and would burst into tears whenever he tried to touch him or something. This time too, Tsuna stumbled backwards in panic and rushed to Nana and hid behind her legs, and peeked out at him warily with watery eyes.

To be honest, Tsuna's rejection to interact with him stung him a bit. He knew he hadn't visited his son ever since he had been born –and had only stayed in contact through posts and phone calls. Only he knew how much tormented he felt whenever he couldn't even see his own son with his very own eyes- every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every single damn second was a torture for him. He loved his family, he truly did. So he did everything he could to protect them- even if it meant keeping them at an arm's length.

In the end, between family and Family, he chose Family. _What a pathetic husband and father he is, isn't he?_

"Ara, Tsu-kun is still being shy?" Nana giggled as she picked Tsuna up and kissed his forehead and cooed at him to make him stop weeping. "It's just your Papa, Tsu-kun, you shouldn't shy away from him, you know."

Tsuna just puffed his cheeks, and darted a side-way glance towards his "Papa". When Iemitsu caught him staring, the fie year old boy panicked and buried his head in Nana's embrace.

Nana sighed in exasperation and patted his back "All right, all right, I won't force you, okay? Go on, play with your toys, Tsu-kun!" saying this, she gently placed him on the ground and ushered him away. The boy hesitatingly stared to and fro between his Mama and the stranger "Papa" and in the end walked in the corner of the room to play with a ball.

Iemitsu walked towards his wife with a dejected look as he stared at Tsuna with a forlorn glance. Fortunately, Tsuna was quite immersed in his game, or else he'd be cowering away from him by now.

"Tuna-fishy is still as shy as ever, I see….." Iemitsu mumbled as he wiped away every negative emotion from his face and grinned at his wife.

Nana – _unaware of the turmoil in her husband's heart-_ chuckled at his words and said, "I won't be so sure of that, considering Tsu-kun is usually happily chasing after his friends."

Iemitsu froze and asked in an incredulous tone. "Tuna-fishy has _friends_?" When did his little tuna-fishy make friends?

Why didn't Nana tell him about it during her weekly phone calls? Usually she'd be so eager to share everything with him –and he always relished listening to her anecdotes- so why didn't she tell him about something as important as his shy, adorable tuna-fishy making friends?

Nana smiled fondly. "Of course he does! And they're equally adorable!" Her eyes glittered as she gossiped excitedly, "Did you know that Tsu-kun was the one to actually approach his first friend on his own?"

"What?" _Oh he has to know about his!_ He _really_ wanted to know how his shy tuna-fishy made his first friend.

Nana's eyes gleamed happily as she told him how her Tsu-kun barely embarked on his journey to make friends – _including the hilarious attempt to stalk his 'friend'._

* * *

When Yuna got a phone call from her –dormant- Sky (a civilian who had no idea that she actually has Sky flames- really not many people were as highly sensitive to flames – _to the point to even sense dormant ones_ \- like she was. Considering that a bit of Mist Flames were also mixed with her Sky flames, it's no wonder that the Mist Flames somehow managed to confound Nana – _making her seem like a dense airhead_ \- and hid the fact that she had dormant Sky Flames.) who wanted to arrange a meeting between her and her kids with her husband who had just got back home from his work overseas, she hadn't thought much of it and agreed to the request.

Now, she was _really_ regretting her decision. If she had known that her chosen Sky's husband happened to be the _idiota_ who dared to force harmonization on her sealed flames, she wished she had shot him with one of Reborn-san's gifted guns earlier –or maybe sic Fon-nii on him, depending on what option she felt better to choose at the moment. But _no_ … her luck just had to be the worst.

Not only did she agree to her Sky's request and came over for a visit, but she also brought over her children too.

 _Goddammit!_

The blonde man grinned as he wrapped his hand around Nana's waist and said, "Hello, I am Sawada Iemitsu –Nana's husband. I've heard so much about you from my Nana-chan. Thank you for taking care of her and tuna-fishy all this time." His grin widened as he introduced himself, but his eyes flashed with something as they stared at her.

His Sky Flames once again prodded her own sealed ones- _though this time in warning_ , and she barely fought off a grimace. A small hand slipped into her own, and poured some _pure_ Cloud Flames into her system, warming her gently and propagated the pathetically weak amount of Flames that existed in her body outside the seal. Yuna squeezed Kyo-chan's hand in gratitude as his _pure_ Cloud Flames multiplied her own stormy Cloud ones, and then counteracted against the blonde man's forceful sky flames.

The blonde man –Iemitsu- stiffened, and then resumed smiling, as if nothing was wrong.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the stupid man who dared to hurt her before her kids – _Humph! If he tries anymore tricks, Kyo-chan will definitely bite him to death, and she definitely won't do anything to make him stop_ \- she smiled brightly at them –As Fon-nii says, a smile is the best weapon to disarm your opponents- and said cheerfully, "Nice to meet you, Sawada-san! I am Hibari Yuna, and these are my children Kyoya-" she pointed to her Kyo-chan who was busy glaring at Iemitsu, "-and Nagi." She then gestured to her other daughter who just smiled shyly at him.

Nana beamed as she saw her best friend and her husband getting along so well, and gestured them to come in. "Ara, don't just keep standing on the doorway, come on in! Tsu-kun has been waiting eagerly for Kyoya-kun and Nagi-chan's arrival."

The Sawada couple walked into the house, followed by the the Hibaris. They hadn't even reached the living room when clumsy footsteps approached them and a beaming Tsuna ran towards them –more specifically towards the two kids- and hugged the hell out of Kyoya. "Cloud-san is here!" He exclaimed brightly as he wrapped her arms around Kyoya's waist who just grunted and tried to get him to loosen his grip and step back – _to no avail_. "Tsu-kun waited for you for a long time, you know!"

Nagi pouted and said in a mock-sad tone. "Orange-san, did you forget about me?"

"No way! How can Tsu-kun forget you, Mist-chan?" Tsuna said as he released Kyoya from his impromptu hug and then bumped Nagi's shoulders, to which she smiled. A fond smile lit up on Nana and Yuna's lips as they watched their kids interact with each other. While Iemitsu's heart softened as he saw how Tsuna's eyes lit up when he saw his friends. He had never seen his son smiling so brightly, so happily _ever._

The kids played with a ball while Nana and Yuna prepared dinner, while Iemitsu watched Tsuna play with his friends with a bemused smile. The way the three children interacted was quite strange. For some reason, the black haired boy –Kyoya- was the center of attention of the two other kids. Tsuna would throw the ball towards Kyoya most of the time –who just passed the ball to his sister Nagi gently. Nagi would beam at him, and then pass to Tsuna, and the cycle would repeat itself. Kyoya –who got bored easily by this stupid game- once even kicked the ball back to Tsuna harshly and it hit Tsuna and almost knocked him over. Iemitsu had jumped in fright and thought that Tsuna would panic and cry again, but to his surprise Tsuna just giggled and said, "Cloud-san is being grumpy again. Tsu-kun thinks we should play something else."

If it had been anyone else, Iemitsu was sure Tsuna would've been bawling his eyes by now. So why did he just shrug it off just like that?

"Let's play hide and seek!" Nagi suggested, and Tsuna quickly agreed. Kyoya declined, but under the combined puppy dog eyes of the both of them, he reluctantly agreed.

And for the next half an hour Iemitsu watched, bemused as Tsuna and Nagi teamed up to look for Kyoya –who wasn't found until his mother called for lunch –and turns out he had been napping on the rooftop like a lazy bird.

The kids weren't so bad, in fact, they were quite good for his tuna-fishy. They made him happy, and what else can he –as a father- ask for more. He had been worried about the children's mother –he had felt Cloud Flames saturating the town ever since he stepped here, and he was worried that the Flame user might be mafia related and recognize him as CEDEF's head and make things difficult for his family. Actually that hadn't been the only thing in his mind- in fact, he had thought that it'd be better if he managed to harmonize with this Cloud – _since these Cloud Flames of this Flame user are **really** strong, and also the fact that Cloud Flame Users are **really** scarce find in mafia, second only to Sky Flame users._

(What he didn't know, was that he had been picking at the wrong target ever since he stepped into Namimori. The Cloud Flames he sensed had been Kyoya's declaration and marking his territory, which Iemitsu thought was Yuna's work. Then again, it is a bit jarring to even think of an eight year old having powerful flames – _and Cloud Flames at that!_ \- enough to mark the whole town as their territory. But when it is related to one Hibari Kyoya, all bets are off.) 

Maybe the Cloud woman isn't that bad after all. He might be getting too paranoid –Namimori was Mafia recognized neutral grounds and safe zone, no mafia would dare to harm anyone here _-unless they're suicidal and aren't afraid of getting themselves locked in Vendicare, that is._

"Come on, Nana-chan prepared really tasty dishes today!" Yuna said cheerfully as she ushered the kids in. Nagi had already dragged off Tsuna with her, and Kyoya slowly followed after them, glancing at his mother every once in a while.

Yuna smiled at him and said softly, "Go, Kyo-chan, I'll be fine."

Kyoya reluctantly agreed and went in – _but not before shooting a glare at Iemitsu._

Iemitsu watched with narrowed eyes as Yuna turned to him and said with a cold expression, "We need to talk."

Iemitsu raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in expressions - _and barely sensed with his Sky Flames that a faint Mist barrier has been constructed around them to keep their conversation private_ \- tapped the pocket of his pants leisurely and said nonchalantly, "Oh? What is it, Hibari-san? Is it important enough to skip Nana-chan's handmade delicious lunch?"

Yuna's grey eyes narrowed as she saw how the _herbivore_ –as Kyo-chan would say-wasn't taking her seriously, but considering who he _actually_ was, well, his cockiness was well deserved. Her lips quirked upwards in a scathing smirk as she said, "Well, I think it is rather important, considering that we need to discuss _why_ you decided to come to _my_ territory uninvited as well as force harmony on me as soon as you arrived." Seeing that he was still dismissing her, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes and commented mockingly, "Or maybe we should talk about why the _Leader of CEDEF_ himself has graced us with his presence, hmm?"

As soon as she spoke those words, Iemitsu tensed as a thick amount of Killing Intent escaped from him and he stood straighter, giving off a cold aura. His aura would'e intimidated any lesser Mafioso – _but too bad for him she wasn't any worthless herbivore._ She was Fon's sister, and had been one of the elites of the triads. She's the _best_ , dammit. She won't be intimidated by someone like _him._

His brown eyes burned like scathing amber as he hissed out, "How do you know that?"

Yuna nonchalantly cocked her head to the side and said smugly, "Well, a certain information broker was being _very_ generous to me to for some reason, and offered me the information for a surprisingly generous discount." In exchange for some cute pictures of Kyo-chan and Na-chan though. She didn't understand why they would want her children's pictures so much that the miser even lowered their prices for information, but meh, she wasn't going to turn down such a good opportunity to get a discount from the stingiest miser of an information broker on earth. She then added as an afterthought, "Nana-chan doesn't know. And there's no chance that she –or anyone else- would learn of little conversation between us –thanks to a Mist barrier surrounding us. And yes, that means you can't back out, unless you plan on fighting me. Which I won't recommend," She smirked smugly as she purred, "-since you would not dare to risk the wrath of the Storm Arcobaleno by trying to harm his sister, right?"

"So," She pulled out a gun and pointed it at Iemitsu's head, and said in a frigid tone, "Are you going to talk now, Sawada Iemitsu?"

* * *

 **A/N:- Holy shit Kyoya's Mom is badass, don't you guys agree?**


	8. Brumous

**Brumous**

 ** _-adjective-_**

 _Foggy and wintry_

~O~

Kyoya distractedly shoved the vegetables in his plate from one corner to another, and once again glanced at the door. He frowned. Why isn't his mother back yet? Did that two-faced herbivore hurt hr or did something to her? His grey eyes flashed purple for a second as he swore to bite Sawada Iemitsu to death if he even _touched_ a single hair on his mother's body.

He clenched his fists underneath the dining table as he remembered how his mother had collapsed suddenly with pain a few days ago. He had almost had a heart attack and had thought that her disease acted earlier than he had imagines- _only to realize a moment later that that is not the case at all_. The way her flames were acting against her own body-it was obvious that was suffering from the side effects of forced harmony with an incompetent Sky. He had seen such a thing happen only once in his life- and the results were not good. At all.

(He remembered how Ryohei – _the usually cheerful, loud herbivore_ \- flew in a rage and had almost massacred the whole Venice when he saw his sister in a coma due to forced harmony. Some rival famiglia had been tempted by her unlocked, pure flames and thinking of her as some harmless civilian tried to force her into harmony with their Boss and make her join their Family.

Needless to say, Ryohei was pissed. And well, since someone dared to harm one of their own, is it a wonder that the rest of the elements – _including their Sky, along with Reborn and Fon and Colonello –Oh, forget it! Almost every member of Vongola and their allies (including the Varia) were pissed_ \- followed with the destruction and caused havoc in Venice, and almost dyed the city red with blood. The Massacre that took place that time was recorded in the history as one of the bloodiest incident in history of Mafia- _second only to Daemon's reign of terror._

And you know what the funny thing is? While they caused havoc in Venice, the Vindice did not appear to stop them. _At all._ When asked later, Bermuda had shrugged and said casually that the Vindice had been on a Vacation, and hence had cut off contact from the outside world for some time. Hence they couldn't come.

 _Yeah, right_.)

Seeing his own mother be forced into harmony by some _bastardo_ Sky, it was obvious that Hibari Kyoya was angry. Oh wait, he wasn't angry. _He was fucking pissed._ Only he knew how much he had to suppress his Killing intent and helped his mother break out of the _torturing_ hypnosis of the Sky Flames by constructing a barrier with his Mist Flames, and then he – _along with Nag_ i- pumped their own Flames into her body to soothe her Flames before they could rampage.

After reassuring himself that his mother was fine, he begun the hunt for the _bastardo_ who dared to force harmony on his mother- _only to find that the culprit turned out to be his Baby Sky's good-for-nothing father._

Needless to say, Hibari Kyoya was unimpressed.

He had never liked Decimo's father. Frankly, Sawada Iemitsu – _in his eyes_ \- was an utterly moronic, incompetent Leader. He did everything half-assed. He kept his family at an arm's length for the sake of his Family, but when his Family needed him the most, he let his emotions cloud his judgement and made errors in his tasks. He could still remember clearly how much annoyed he had been when he saw the poor management of CEDEF when he had taken over as Vongola's External Advisor. He had to start everything from scratch – _and if he didn't have Lal's guidance, he didn't know how he would've gotten the CEDEF up and running in a competent manner._

Ever since then, he had never seen eye-to-eye with Sawada Iemitsu. It was a good thing that his Decimo wasn't that close to his own father, hence he didn't mind Iemitsu being bitten to death from time to time. (In fact, most of the time it was Tsuna himself who pleaded Kyoya to bite the annoying herbivore to death –and had even bribed him with a month long vacation to Namimori. Now, who would turn down such a tempting offer?)

And to think that this fool dared to harm his mother, this two-faced herbivore is clearly asking to be bitten to death _, painfully._

Alas, his revenge plans couldn't be acted on, since his mother had forbidden him to do so and had taken initiative to talk with that fool.

 _Tch._

"Cloud-san is sulking." Tsuna – _who had been sitting next to Kyoya on the dining table_ \- leaned slightly closer to him and whispered, "who made Cloud-san angry this time?" The five year old asked as he tilted his head curiously.

Kyoya snapped himself out of his trance and shook his head. "Just some lowly herbivore." He grunted as he grabbed some vegetable with his chopsticks and shoved it in his mouth.

"Will Cloud-san bite herbivore-san to death?" said Tsuna as he blinked his doe-like brown eyes. "Can Tsu-kun watch?" He asked excitedly.

Kyoya paused and looked at his baby sky strangely. Something crossed his mind and he asked, "If I tell you that the herbivore that I want to bite is your father, then what will you do?"

Tsuna stared at him with wide eyes. "Papa?" He asked. "Cloud-san wants to bite Papa? Cloud-san doesn't like Papa?"

Kyoya nodded, and wondered if his Baby Sky would get angry.

 _…...Of course he would._ Tsuna had always been a bit possessive when it comes to his family. And now that Kyoya is clearly threatening to hurt his family, the baby Sky will obviously be angry.

( _His_ Sky wouldn't have minded. He would actually have paid him triple of his annual salary just to watch Iemitsu bitten to death. Hell, he would even have joined in, or would've incited other guardians to join in the fun.

He hadn't even minded when Kyoya had bitten Byakuran to death when the white haired moron had pranked on him once, so why would he have been offended that he hurt Iemitsu – _his father whom he disliked somewhat_ \- when he hadn't even retaliated when he taught his gossip buddy a lesson?)

Kyoya suppressed the sting of sadness and heartache that suddenly came over him and huffed. "…Forget it." he mumbled, "it was a stupid thing to ask."

Tsuna shook his head and said, "Nuh-uh. Cloud-san didn't ask any stupid thing." His eyes then flashed orange for a moment, and he said with conviction, "If Cloud-san doesn't like Papa, then Tsu-kun of course will not like him."

Kyoya –who had been drinking the soup at that moment- almost spat out the soup and stared incredulously at him _. Baby Sky said what now-?!_

The innocent child smiled adorably at Kyoya and said, "After all, Cloud-san doesn't bite anyone unless they do something wrong. So that means Papa did something wrong and made Cloud-san angry. Isn't Tsu-kun right, Cloud-san?" The child grabbed the hem of his jacket and smiled brightly at him, "Tsu-kun is so smart, right, Cloud-san?"

Kyoya huffed and glanced away, flustered, as his ears turned red in embarrassment. He hadn't expected Tsuna to actually believe in him rather than in his own father. That… was unexpected.

But it was nice. Sort of.

Kyoya glanced back at his baby Sky and sighed fondly. He is such an idiot. How could he doubt his – _Baby_ \- Sky? He should've known better than to doubt him.

After all, Tsuna will be Tsuna.

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _("Aren't you angry?" Kyoya had asked, with an unreadable expression, as he watched Sawada Tsunayoshi grumpily doing his paperwork as moaned about 'evil, **evil** paperwork' and didn't pay any attention to the Cloud Guardian._

 _Tsunayoshi glanced up from his paperwork and gladly shoved it away –he just **knew** that Reborn would nag him for procrastinating again, but well, he'll deal it with when the time comes. What? paperwork is **evil** , okay?- and glanced up at Kyoya and asked, "What do you mean, Hibari-san?"_

 _Kyoya paused, and mumbled reluctantly. "I hurt Byakuran." And it was the truth. The fight between him and Byakuran hadn't been like those mock fights he usually indulges in with his fellow guardians –or with the other Arcobaleno. The fight was serious this time, and Kyoya had almost killed Byakuran-_

 _-and if Tsunayoshi hadn't stopped him, he would've even succeeded._

 _Tsunayoshi narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Kyoya seriously- as if he was searching his very soul. Kyoya didn't fidget, instead he stared straight into Decimo's eyes._

 _Tsunayoshi seemed to have found what he was looking for, since his lips turned upwards in a smile, and his amber eyes flashed warmly at him. "I'm not angry, Hibari-san." He said warmly. "After all, you and I both know that you don't hurt anyone for no reason."_

 _Ignoring the warmth that suddenly engulfed his heart, he just huffed grumpily and snorted. "Tch, herbivore."_

 _Tsunayoshi sighed fondly as he watched his Cloud guardian walk away from the office gracefully and mumbled exasperatedly, "Never change, Hibari-san.")_

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Thank you for having us for lunch, Nana-chan!" Yuna beamed as she hugged Nana, who just giggled back in response.

"I'm really glad we could spend some time together today." Nana then sighed and lamented, "It would've been better if Seiji-san had joined us too."

"Maybe next time," Yuna said coaxingly to her friend, and Nana's smile brightened at the thought of holding another get-together like this. Yuna then glanced at the blonde man standing next to Nana, holding an ice-pack to his black-and blue bruised eye. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Sawada-san." Yuna's smile gained a mocking turn as she grinned at the blonde man, "I hope you don't get yourself accidentally injured during our next visit."

The blonde man who had _'accidentally'_ injured himself glowered at the sly woman and said with gritted teeth, "I won't, Hibari-san."

"Good." Yuna smiled smugly, and barely restrained the urge to cackle gloatingly in victory. Oh well, grinning like an idiot would suffice for now. Not only she got to bully Iemitsu and extorted a contract regarding Namimori's protection in the name of her brother, she also got to punch the bastard! Oh this meeting was definitely successful!

Nana smiled brightly as she watched the warm interactions between her friends and family. She hadn't been worried about the kids, since she knew that Tsu-kun was really enamored with the Hibari kids. She had been worried that her husband and her newest best friend would not get along well. Turns out, her worries were all for naught. The two of them were getting along swimmingly!

What more could she want?

* * *

"Good morning, Nagi-chan!" Kyoko beamed as she greeted her newest friend- a very sweet, pretty girl with blue hair- as she walked into the class. Hana nodded to the other girl, before her attention was snatched by the teacher as they entered their classroom.

"Hello Kyoko-chan, Hana-chan." Nagi greeted politely as she smiled at her two friends and sat down next to them. Her face was slightly pale –paler than usual- and she was even sweating a bit.

Hana eyed the girl skeptically and asked, "Are you okay, little monkey?"

The indigo haired girl binked, and then smiled at them, "Uh, yes, Hana-chan. Why did you ask?"

Kyoko mumbled in concern, "You don't look fine though. are you sure you're alright?"

Nagi just smiled sweetly and answered, "Don't worry, Kyoko-chan, I'm really fine."

Kyoko didn't seem reassured, but fortunately, she didn't ask any more questions. Soon, the teacher arrived, and then the children got busy practicing kanji while their teacher encouraged them.

Nagi's eyes drooped as she worked on her own practice sheet, the white paper before her eyes blurred as another wave of dizziness washed over her. Sighing, she shook her head to be more alert. She was tired. So, _so_ tired. The nightmares, they didn't let her sleep peacefully at night, always plaguing her mind, haunting her like some evil spirit. What was worse that she never even remembered what the nightmare was about in the morning- only remembered some flashes of indigo eyes, some scary looking people in white coats, and a disgustingly green colored liquid.

And as if that wasn't enough to worry her then there was also the times where she would black out and sometimes when she woke up from her "trance", she would find herself in a completely different location, at different times. She was really afraid. What was going on?

Her fire reassured her that it wasn't anything bad….. but how could she not be concerned by this?! What if something bad happened one day and she wasn't awake at that time?! What if Onii-sama needed her help for some reason- _an unlikely thing_ \- and she wasn't there for him? how awful would that be?!

Nagi flinched as a she felt her head throbbing with a dull headache, and let her head fall on the table, her forehead touching the cool metal, and she sighed. _Here it comes…._

.

.

.

Kyoko blinked when she found Nagi-chan leaning over the table, her forehead pressing onto the surface. Thinking that she wasn't feeling well, she asked in concern, "Nagi-chan? Are you really alright?"

Nagi-chan turned her head up a bit. "Of course, my dear." she said with a smile –which was more like a smirk, actually.

Kyoko blinked. Was it her imagination, or did Nagi-chan's right eye really flash red for a second?

* * *

"Baby omnivore, get off." Kyoya snapped at the brunette child clinging to him like a particularly sticky koala bear. He was crowding, and Kyoya _hated_ crowding.

"No." the brunette refused, and instead clung even more to him –as if that was even possible.

"But-"

"No."

"listen to me-"

"No."

"Oh for the love of-" Kyoya pinched the bridge of his nose as he grabbed a plastic tonfa – _since the metal ones will hurt the child_ \- and bopped the brunette's head with it. The boy yelped in pain and momentarily released loosened his grip on Kyoya, which the Cloud took advantage of as he got out of the child's hold.

Tsuna rubbed the bump on his head that swelled red and stared at Kyoa with pitiful, teary eyes. Kyoya felt his resolve falter and almost gave in to the boy's request to cling to him, but he stopped himself at the end moment, and instead glared fiercely at the baby Omnivore.

"Don't crowd around me." Kyoya growled at boy and soon turned around and stormed away from him.

Tsuna stumbled as he stood up and immediately followed after him. "Cloud-san is a meanie." Tsuna mumbled as if he had suffered grievances and stared pitifully at Kyoya, who ignored him with practiced ease.

After patrolling around the – _now_ \- empty hallways of Elementry School, the both of them walked out of the school building and found Nagi leaning against the school gates, waiting for them.

"Are you done for today, Onii-sama?" Nagi asked her brother softly, who nodded and walked past her. Nagi caught up with her brother and gave a questioning glance towards Tsuna, who clearly looked like a rabbit that has been abused by his master.

Her lips quirked up in a smile as she glanced to and fro between Kyoya and Tsuna, and asked, "Ne, orange-san, did Onii-sama bully you again?"

Kyoya snapped at the same time Tsuna answered-

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, he did."

Nagi giggled as Kyoya glared at the brunette, who shrunk a bit under his gaze. "What happened?" She asked.

"Tch, he was crowding." Kyoya mumbled grumpily.

Nagi raised a brow and asked Tsuna, "And why would you do that? You know Onii-sama doesn't like being crowded, right Orange-san?"

Tsuna faltered for a moment, but soon regained his pace, and said, "Tsu-kun knows, but…" he bit his lower lip, and then stared imploringly at Nagi, "Ne, ne, Mist-chan, take Tsu-kun to your house with you, okay? Tsu-kun doesn't wanna go home."

"Why?" Nagi asked, puzzled.

"There's an old man in Tsu-kun's house, Papa said he is his friend." He scratched the back of his head and winced. "He makes Tsu-kun's orange fire sleepy."

Kyoya halted his steps and suddenly turned around and stared at Tsuna with wide, grey eyes. "What did you say?"

Tsuna jumped, startled at his sudden actions, and shared a puzzled look with Nagi.

"Um….. there's an old man in Tsu-kun's house?" he answered weakly.

"No, the other thing." Kyoya bit out.

"He's Papa's friend?" Tsuna tried again, and shrunk back his shoulders when Kyoya's glower increased in intensity.

Tsuna mumbled weakly, "….he makes Tsu-kun's Orange fire sleepy?"

Kyoya narrowed his grey eyes. _makes his Orange fire sleepy?_ He clearly means someone is overpowering his Sky flames and suppressing his intuition, right? That would definitely make Tsuna wary, since thee past months he had become used to his Dying Will Flames inside him as well as his Vongola Intuition. So after experiencing his Sky Flames for months when he suddenly feels it being suppressed now, it would definitely alarm Tsuna greatly.

If Tsuna wasn't being trained by Kyoya in the usage of Flames, he wouldn't have been so much in-tune with his Flames, he wouldn't have noticed that anything is wrong. But (un)fortunately, Kyoya has been training him –and Nagi- in flames usage, hence he definitely can understand – _and be wary_ \- when his Flames are being suppressed.

Kyoya squeezed his eyes shut and wondered. Someone who can suppress Tsuna's pure Sky flames shut- _they definitely can't be any ordinary person_. Even as a child, Tsuna's Sky Flames can overwhelm any ordinary Mafioso with their purity and intensity. So, the person who could suppress Tsuna's Flames is definitely not an ordinary person.

"Nagi," Kyoya opened his eyes and then stared at his sister. "Tell Kusakabe to call Kaa-san and inform her that we're having a sleepover at baby Omnivore's house."

Nagi nodded and immediately parted from them and went to find Kusakabe, who can always be found somewhere not far away from where her Onii-sama is. After she was done giving Kusakabe his instructions, she came back.

Kyoya then turned to Tsuna and said, "Baby Omnivore, we're having a sleepover at your house tonight. Lead the way."

Tsuna's eyes brightened as he eagerly led them to their house, and chattered happily with Nagi about random things –while Kyoya followed the two of them briskly with dark eyes hat flashed with anticipation and barely repressed blood-thirst.

There's a carnivore in his town. And Kyoya wasn't aware of it.

 _Oh, someone will pay for this._

* * *

Kyoya stared at the "old man" his Baby sky had told him about and resisted the urge to flip a table in annoyance. Fuck this shit, what kind of luck his Baby Sky was born with? What "old man"? This is clearly Vongola Nono, okay?

Having Vongola Nono as well as the Head of CEDEF in the same house was intimidating enough. No wonder his Baby sky's Flames had been suppressed. Living with two powerful Skies under the same roof, it's a miracle his Baby Sky hasn't turned crazy with his Intuition working overdrive with paranoia. Though that might be because Iemitsu is Tsuna's father, and hence his Flames weren't a threat to his son, while Timoteo was clearly trying to suppress the impact his Flames will have on the Baby sky.

But it clearly wasn't enough, considering how Tsuna was weakly leaning against him with droopy eyes, looking exhausted –even though they hadn't been doing any rigorous activity.

And now Kyoya had to face the curious – _and somewhat intimidating_ \- stare of Timoteo Vongola on his own, while his Baby sky was almost dozing off, and his Baby Mist was cowering behind him, her flames had long been scared by Timoteo's powerful ones.

"Hello," The old man greeted the children softly, looking like a fragile, weak old man – _as if he isn't he one trying to intimidate them with his powerful sky flames_ \- and said, "My name is Timoteo Vongola, I am here on a vacation. You must be Tsunayoshi's friends, right?" he eyed the children in fascination –especially the ravenette as he didn't even buckle under his sky Flames-not that Timoteo was actually trying to make them submit to him, and hence had already suppressed a lot of his power- mindful of children. But even when he was not actively trying to make other flame-active people submit to his authority, his Flames were intimidating enough to suppress a child's own weak Flames.

Kyoya stiffened when he saw how Nono was eyeing him as if he was a particularly fascinating piece of art, and resisted the urge to bare his teeth violently. And he would've acted on his instincts and launched an attack on the unsuspecting fool, if he wasn't being burdened by two kids who were leaning against him for support.

Kyoya mood soured and he scowled.

Damn Decimo and his stupid brand of luck. This is definitely Tsuna's fault. He will bite his Decimo to death if he ever gets a chance to meet him again.

(Because of course it is.)

Nana walked out of the kitchen and beamed when she saw the three kids. "I got a call from your mother, Hibari-kun. She said you're having a sleepover here today! Oh my, isn't that exciting?!" She exclaimed.

Iemitsu beamed, and cried out eagerly, "Tuna-fishy is having a sleepover with his friends today? Uwah-! I can't miss it for the world!"

Even Timoteo perked up at her words.

Yeah, fuck this shit. He isn't saying here a single second more than he has to. Rather than being under the scrutiny of the Vongola Nono himself, he's rather drag his Baby Sky and Baby Mist back home and then bite his Baby sky to death – _as a substitute of Decimo_ \- for making him a victim of his shitty brand of luck.

Without wasting anytime, Kyoya grabbed Tsuna and Nagi with each of his hand, and nodded to Nana, "Change of Plans, Sawada Tsunayoshi will be having a sleepover at my house for indefinite amount of time. If you need him for something, then please inform Kaa-san."

Saying this, he immediately fled Tsuna's house, and made his way back to his own house, scowling at the fact that he had to _retreat_ today for the sake of his Baby Sky and Baby Mist. Tch, how unbecoming of a carnivore. He'll bite Nono the next time they meet –because what utter _idiota_ would try to intimidate Flame-active children –especially a Baby Sky who has only recently activated his own Flames? How in the seven hells did Timoteo became the Vongola Boss, again? Was Ottavo drunk or something when she declared Timoteo to be the heir?

Kyoya resisted the urge to just grab his tonfas and storm back to bite Nono to death. Even if Nono looks like a fragile old man, he isn't as weak as he looks. In fact, he was very powerful. Heck, he made Xanxus freeze for eight years! Right now, Kyoya might've experience of a lifetime with him, but he was no match for Nono. He had to retreat today, but that won't happen in future. ever.

He will have his revenge one day, no matter what.

 _You live for today, Nono. You live for today._

* * *

 **A/N- My, my, Kyo-chan sure can hold a grudge, can't he?**

* * *

 _ **~OMAKE~**_

"When are you letting us meet your children, kora?" Colonello asked Fon, who just twitched and smiled serenely –though the vein throbbing on his forehead clearly expressed how much calm he actually was. _Not_.

"They are not my children." Fon replied. "They are my sister's."

"Yeah, right." Colonello said sarcastically. "You mean you did not have a threesome with Viper and Reborn?"

The other two twitched at his words and glowered at the loud-mouthed blonde.

Fon answered calmly, "I did not have intercourse with either Reborn or Viper. Stop slandering us."

Skull cracked up in laughter, and even Lal couldn't help twitching her lips upwards at his words.

"Fuck, this is hilarious!" Skull guffawed and pointed at Fon. "He actually said 'intercourse'."

The sound of gunshot rang around them, and Skull choked and paled when he saw a bullet embedded on his chair, just next to his ear. Reborn smiled a bit too darkly and said, "Lackey, did you say something? I didn't hear it clearly."

Skull shook his head frantically and exclaimed, "R-R-Reborn-sempai! I-It was j-j-just a j-joke! Y-Yeah!"

"Well," Reborn frowned and glared at the Cloud Arcobaleno, "It wasn't funny."

Lal mumbled under her breath in a low tone so that Reborn won't hear, "It definitely was."

Verde glanced up from his laptop on which he had been typing something and shot an irritated look at his fellow Arcobaleno. "Can you get on the main topic? I don't have any time to waste."

"Yeah Fon, let us meet our godchildren, kora!" Colonello exclaimed in agreement.

Verde pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed angrily, "That was not what I meant. I was talking about Arcana Famiglia and their-"

"Your _godchildren?!_ " Fon's smile sharpened as he said in a faux-calm tone. "Since when can _my nephew and niece_ become _your_ godchildren? And even if they were my own children, why do you think I'd even let _any_ of you be their godparent when you haven't even met them even once?"

"It's because you're not letting us meet them, kora!" Colonello argued back.

"Yeah, Fon! At least let the great Skull-sama meet them!" Skull said in an annoyed tone.

"We haven't even met our _supposed_ children, and you want to meet them before us, lackey?" Reborn said with a glower as he caressed the Leon-gun in his hands. "Are you courting death?"

Skull paled as he scooted away from him and shook his head.

"Fuck, give us something here, kora!" Colonello said as he pulled his blonde hair. "Anything would do, okay even their photos would do!"

"Here." Viper –who goes by Mammon now- threw some photos on the round table. The other Arcobaleno stared at the photos lying haphazardly on the table- _there were pictures of the children wearing cute cat onesies of contrasting colors, of the kids playing in the sandbox, of the little girl feeding the boy noodles, of the boy dozing off the girl's lap as she played with his hair, of the kids wearing an apron and baking cookies together in the kitchen_ \- and several more.

Lal stared at the pictures and mumbled, "Oh my god, they're just so cute!" she held out her hand to touch a photo, but stiffened when she heard the Mist arcobaleno's next words.

"1,250 euro for each time you touch any photo, and fifty times that amount for any photo you want to keep." Mammon announced in a bored tone as they hovered over their seat.

"Hey, you're clearly extorting us, kora!" Colonello pointed at them and said in an accusing tone.

Mammon gave them an unimpressed look. "Do you want them or not?"

Needless to say, Chaos ensued.

.

.

.

Fifteen minutes later Fon found himself staring, speechless, at the destroyed room- what with the holes in the ceiling- _thanks to Colonello_ -, the cracks of gunshots in the – _courtesy of Reborn_ , the table that had been shattered to pieces – _definitely Lal's doing_ , broken parts of robots lying haphazardly on the floor – _that has Verde's name written all over it,_ and a giant crater in the middle of the room in the center of which Skull was curled up, wailing about not being able to grab even a single photo. Fon then stared at Viper as the miser counted stack of money in their hands – _and by the way Fantasma floated around them happily, he can tell that Viper was definitely happy with today's business._

"Where did you get those photos?" Fona asked them.

"Your sister was kind enough to give them to me for free." Viper said dismissively as they counted the notes in their hands. They then paused and informed him with a shrug, "Oh, by the way, your sister also told me to inform you to handle the matters regarding the CEDEF."

"the CEDEF? Fon frowned a bit. "Why?" _What did Yuna do to grab the wrath of the CEDEF?_

"Apparently, your sister punched Sawada Iemitsu in the face. The CEDEF leader is definitely not happy with that and is demanding compensation for her disrespect." Viper mumbled.

 _Yuna did what now-?!_

While Fon was processing the information in his head, Viper dropped another bomb on his head.

"Oh by the way, the information I told you costs fifty thousand Euro. Now pay up."

THWACK!

Viper glanced up from her money counting to see Fon banging his head against a wall –making the wall crumble into dust- and added on as an afterthought, "the damage repairs cost an extra twenty thousand Euro."

Fon groaned. What did he do to deserve this?


	9. Coruscate

**coruscate**

 _~ verb~_

 _(of light) flash or sparkle._

* * *

"Because of the presence of unidentified carnivores in Namimori, there are three rules that innocent herbivores like you must follow for the sake of your own protection." Kyoya lectured earnestly to the two children as he paced around the room.

("Should we be offended that he is actually calling us _herbivores?"_ Nagi deadpanned as she eyed Kyoya warily.

Tsuna shrugged. "Tsu-kun thinks it's quite cute of Cloud-san to worry about us. Though Tsu-kun doesn't understand what Cloud-san means by ' _unidentified carnivores'_." he then eyed the chessboard with a frown. "Now _hush_ , Mist-chan, let me concentrate on the game.")

"Rule no. 1- You are not allowed to use your Flames in front of anyone who is not me." Kyoya said in a stern tone.

(Nagi stared at the chessboard with a frown as Tsuna moved his knight and took out another one of her pawns. "You're quite good at this, Orange-san." Nagi admitted.

"Thanks!" Tsuna giggled. "But it's all thanks to Tsu-kun's fire!"

Nagi scowled, "Isn't that cheating, then?!"

Tsuna blinked, bewildered, and tilted his head cutely and said, "But Mist-chan also hid her bishop with her fire, so Tsu-kun thought Tsu-kun can also use Tsu-kun's fire."

Nagi flushed and sputtered, "But- you- I- Argh!" She pulled her hair in frustration.)

"Rule no. 2- Don't go anywhere without informing me first." Kyoya said.

("Mist-chan, you can't just use your fire to turn Tsu-kun's pieces into yours. That's not how the game works." Tsuna said in exasperation.

Nagi frowned. "Aww…" she pouted, "When did you notice?"

"When you turned Tsu-kun's black Queen to white." Tsuna deadpanned.)

"Rule no. 3- Stay away from unidentified carnivores for the time being." Kyoya ordered.

("Checkmate!" Tsuna cheered as he paced his bishop before Nagi's pawn –and a moment later orange flames flickered over indigo ones, revealing White King in the pawn's place.

"But- how did you know?!" Nagi demanded.

Tsuna tapped his temple and said with a bright grin, "The orange fire told Tsu-kun!"

Nagi pouted and sulked, "No fair…..")

"Are we clear?" Kyoya exclaimed as he stopped his pacing around the room and turned to the two children who were busy putting away the chessboard and it's pieces.

"Uh, yeah." Tsuna said distractedly as he counted the chess pieces, and scowled when he found white pieces to be in greater number than the black ones, and glared at Nagi.

"Sure, sure." Nagi mumbled under her breath as she gave Tsuna a sheepishly and with a snap of her fingers put away the illusion she did on the Black chess pieces, turning them to their original shape and colour.

Kyoya stared to and fro between the two of them, and then deadpanned, "You didn't hear me at all, did you?"

the two of the shared a look, and then shrugged.

"Uh, you were saying…..?" Nagi mumbled sheepishly.

Kyoya's eye twitched as he bonked their heads with plastic tonfas, making them cry out in pain as bumps grew on their heads.

"Idiots." He mumbled under his breath and stalked off.

* * *

 ** _Two days later….._**

"You let him go?" He seethed and said with gritted teeth.

"Uh, yeah…." Nagi mumbled, "Aunt Nana said Orange-san's Papa will go back to his work a day later, so they need to spend some quality time together." she blinked and gave her brother a wary look. "Um, is something wrong, onii-sama…?"

A vein throbbed over his forehead as he glowered at Nagi, who shrunk when she saw her brother's glare.

"You weren't listening to me that day at all, were you?" Kyoya huffed.

Nagi blushed and ducked her head from embarrassment. Kyoya groaned.

* * *

Timoteo Vongola had always fancied himself to be a good Mafia Boss. Everything he did was for the sake of his Family. He loved his Family. Even if he had to deal with loads of paperwork – _oh the horror!-_ every single day – _most of it is usually about damage repairs_ \- and from the way every single member of his Family acted like a total crazy, violent person, the paperwork seemed to _multiply_ on it's own – _no, not on it's on. Usually it's Coyote who adds them when he has worked on a portion of the file. The traitor._

So it really isn't any wonder that when his fellow External Advisor asked for a vacation to visit his home and _family_ , he agreed, and even unashamedly invited himself to it (because let those _idiota_ deal with this shit. he was _out_ ).

 _Because even Mafia Bosses needed vacation._

Well, it wasn't exactly a vacation when he needed to take a look at Tokyo and find out what exactly happened with the low-life Mafia famiglia who were involved in human trafficking and organs smuggling (usually organs of _children_ , the utter _bastardo-!_ ) -who had set up their base in Japan and were slippery enough to escape every single damn time he sent his men to apprehend them.

Finding a destroyed base had been … surprising. Looks like someone else got to that famiglia and gave them the punishment they so rightly deserved. And the way the blood – _that has now turned black_ \- splattered the walls and the floor, and the strong smell of decay that permeated the air made them realize this place must've been littered with corpses a few weeks ago. Someone had already dealt with these low-life Mafioso, and they had missed them by a few weeks –at most.

He had ordered an investigation to be done and asked to report back with full information as soon as possible. After dealing with the case and ensuring that the government won't stick a foot in this mess, he took off to Namimori.

Iemitsu's family was so kind and accepting… and he actually got why Iemitsu loved them so much. Because they welcomed everyone with open arms, and showered them equally with love and care. He hadn't met anyone who would be so kind to him, without any strings attached, that is. (After all, Mafia doesn't do kindness.)

That was, until he met Iemitsu's family.

Sawada Nana – _Iemitsu's wife_ \- was a pretty, charming woman who smiled brightly like the sun and showed warmth and love to everyone whom she came across. She was so warm and accepting (just like the Sky he was unaware she is) of him, and hadn't even questioned his motives of visiting his employee's home during his vacation before she welcomed him into her home. The fact that her cooking is divine is just a bonus point.

The young Tsunayoshi – _Iemitsu's son_ \- was as cute and adorable as Iemitsu boasted him to be – _what with his fluffy brown hair, innocent brown eyes and the way he referred himself in third person_. When he first met him, the child had been hiding behind his mother and peered at him shyly. _Such an adorable child he is._

(He lamented the fact that his own children had never been this adorable – _especially Xanxus, what with him glaring and spitting foul language at everyone he came across. But then again, that is what happens to a child who has been overpowered by his own Tempestous Sky Flames in his early childhood._

Why, oh why, he couldn't have _one_ sane child?!)

The days spent in Sawada household were some of the most relaxing time he'd ever spent in his life. He didn't have to deal with paperwork, explosions, politics, impromptu violence, damage repairs like he had to back in Italy. Here he was Timoteo – _just_ Timoteo. And it was relaxing to be _just_ Timoteo for once.

He would spend his days enjoying Nana's amazing cooking, talking about everything and nothing with Iemitsu – _which didn't always include Mafia things, and sightseeing_. He didn't get to play much with young Tsunayoshi since he was almost always playing outside and would rather like to play around then spend his time with an old man like him. Not that he minded. Young people were full of energy after all.

(Even with his Sky Flames suppressed to manageable levels so as to not startle – _or sky-attract_ \- any civilian, his Sky Flames were powerful enough to overpower any other sky in vicinity. Iemitsu didn't count, since he was Family, and hence his Flames had already accepted him as his own. 

Which is why Tsuna's untrained Sky Flames urged him to stay away from the "old man" more and more so as not to be repressed by the older, powerful Sky.)

Meeting Tsuna's friends had been a shocking experience. Staring at the two young children beside young Tsunayoshi made him feel as if he was staring at _living, breathing_ chibi versions of Vongola Primo and his Mist and Cloud Guardians. The three of them looked so much like the First Vongola Generation that he had no doubt that young Tsunayoshi would be just as bright and amazing as Primo had once been. Too bad, Iemitsu loved his son too much to let him enter mafia. And he too agreed with Iemitsu's thinking. He would not want to condemn a child to the cruel, bloodthirsty one of mafia, especially if one was an innocent civilian like Tsunayoshi. Besides, he already has three heirs who were alive – _one of whom will be chosen as Vongola Decimo._

Maybe, if any of these children willingly stepped into Mafia, then he'd extend an invite to join Vongola famiglia. Until then, it'd be better to keep them away from this cruel, bloodthirsty world. After all, Timoteo Vongola, even for a Mafia Boss, had a bottom line. And that happens to be civilian, innocent children who are unwillingly dragged into mafia for absolutely no reason. And that is why, he decided to let them live their lives as a civilian, even if he was a bit unwilling to let first generations direct descendants – _and perfect look-alikes_ \- anywhere that is _not_ Vongola territory.

And then Sawada Tsunayoshi fell off the tree and ignited his Dying will flames of the Sky for the first time, leaving Timoteo with a wavering resolve.

Having someone with such pure Sky Flames – _someone who happened to be a direct descendant of Primo, and even his look-alike_ \- would strengthen his Family hold in mafia. Even if he cannot be chosen as Decimo, he will still enjoy high prestige as a high ranked member in Family.

But….. he is just a child. A _civilian_ child. The son of his External Advisor , who loves his son too much to let him join the cruel world of Mafia. He knew that Iemitsu was dense, and stupid and sometimes did things in a way that would come bite them later in the ass, but there was no doubt that Iemitsu loves his family – _so much that he was even willing to keep them at an arm's length for their own safety._

(Sometimes, he had wondered why Iemitsu hadn't left Nana (and young Tsunayoshi) and free them from himself if he really loved them. After all, love also means sacrifice. But for all Iemitsu loved them, he was also selfish enough to keep them close enough to bask in their love and care when the world became too much for him. That is okay though.

After all, who in the world is _not s_ elfish even a bit?)

As he hesitated, he was convinced by Iemitsu who immediately disagreed with him when he asked for his opinion to take Tsunayoshi to Italy and let him join their Family.

"No." Blue eyes flickered a pale orange as Iemitsu's pale orange Sky Flames clashed against Timoteo's to protect his son, because Tsuna is _minemineminemine_ and _how dare you-!_ and _mylittleSky-!_ "Nono, my little tunafish is just a child! He will be overwhelmed by the mafia! I do not want him to lose his innocence and kindness that makes him so different from others!" he clenched his fists, his eyes darkened as he said, "They will crush him, Nono. Crush his kindness and innocence, and he will _break_. And I _cannot_ watch that happen." The orange in his eyes flashed in conviction as he mumbled, "I am his father. I will protect him, no matter _what the cost is."_

Timoteo sighed. There was no choice then. He will have to seal young Tsunayoshi's flames.

"B-But-!" Iemitsu hesitated.

"There is no other way." Nono sighed as his shoulders bent down as if they had the weight of the world over them. "As an active sky, his flames will beckon other passing – _active_ \- flame users, and you know Japan isn't as mafia-free as you and I would like to believe. Tsunayoshi will be in danger then. Besides, having activated Sky Flames so young and having no one to train him into controlling them will only make him get overwhelmed by them, and you know the consequences of that. Do you _want_ him to turn into a second Xanxus?!"

Because that is what had happened to his – _adopted_ \- son (not that anyone knows that, except him and his guardians, that is.) Xanxus had activated his Flames quite early in his childhood, but had no one to train himself, considering he spent most of his childhood with his mother in slums. By the time Nono got his hands on him, the boy had already been severely affected by his own Flames – _as evident by his personality of a ticking-time bomb that could go out at any moment on any unsuspecting fool._ Timoteo would not wish such a curse on anyone, let alone a young boy with so much _potential._

In the end, Iemitsu agreed, for the sake of his son.

And so, they decided to seal the Sky.

(They didn't understand that their intentions were right, but their method was wrong.)

* * *

Tsuna whimpered as the old man brought his finger closer to his forehead –the finger that was lit up with a fire that was a familiar shade of orange (but for some reason, the fire seemed _cold_ instead of hot, and it was _wrongwrongwrongwrong_ -). The orange fire inside him hissed at him to _runrunrunrun_ , but for some reason he stayed transfixed on his spot, unable to move at all. The cold fire that lit up the finger neared him, and he squeezed his eyes shut as a feeling of _dreaddespairdoom-_ settled deep in his bones, and he knew that if those fingers touched his skin, he would never be the same again.

He squeezed his eyes shut in terror, and a moment later he could even _feel_ the cold fire sending goosebumps on his skin as it was mere inches away from him. He held his breath as the orange fire inside him writhed helplessly, as if screaming for _help_ -

-and then as soon as his panic reached a new height, _everything_ stopped. The feelings of cold despair inside him faded away in an instant, leaving behind his orange fire jumping in glee and barely repressed sadism. He could still feel the cold fire just hovering over his forehead – _the coldness it emitted sending a shiver down his spine_ \- but for some reason it never made contact with his skin.

Curious and confused about his situation, Tsuna hesitantly opened his eyes, and gaped at the scene before him.

The finger –that was lit up with the cold fire ( _keepitawayfromme-!_ ) was mere inches from his forehead, but could not move any closer to him, because of a certain Skylark, who had clamped his hand tightly on the old man's wrist, making him unable to move it even an inch.

 _Cloud-san was here, and he protected him….._

His heart skipped a beat as a warm feeling flooded in his chest, and Tsuna _knew_ that this person will always, _always_ protect him, no matter what.

(Years later, Tsuna would look back at this day and laugh heartily. Because this was the day he actually fell for his dearest Skylark, though he wouldn't realize it until much, _much_ later.)

The raven haired boy slid between Vongola Timoteo and Sawada Tsunayoshi – _his Baby Sky_ \- ignoring the gaping Iemitsu in background.

Small, chubby hands clung to his dark jacket, and a watery voice sniffled, and whispered, "C-Cloud-san…."

"Nagi," Kyoya mumbled in a somewhat calm tone, barely repressing his bloodthirst and fury. "Keep an eye on baby omnivore, will you?"

"Hai, Onii-sama!" Nagi quivered as she grabbed Tsuna – _making him release Kyoya's jacket from his hold and coaxing him to keep him safe_ \- and the two of them retreated.

As Tsuna followed Mist-chan to the other end of the backyard of his house, he glanced back at his Cloud-san and watched as he materialized his tonfas from thin air and growled at the two older men, who now stared at him warily.

"For attacking the baby omnivore, I will _bite you to death!"_

* * *

"Wait-!"

Iemitsu couldn't even get out a word before he was interrupted by a metallic tonfa smacking straight on his head, and he barely ducked under it. Hibari Kyoya spun the tonfa that was left in his hands and struck Nono's outstretched hand, which Timoteo only dodged because of his hyper-intuition. Kyoya then _moved_ and attacked the two older men with the grace of a carnivore, aiming each attack at their vital points. He knew he couldn't kill them – _not because he couldn't because that's a big fat lie_ (no it's not) _but because his Baby Sky would be upset, and would be scarred for life_ , _and Kyoya didn't want that_. So biting them for now would do. And so would maiming and torture.

What was even more frustrating was that the two didn't even retaliate. the two of them had just made eye contact and nodded in understand – _as if they had understood each other's intentions with just an eye contact_ \- and kept dodging his attacks. And he _hated_ it. The _bastardo_ were underestimating him.

He'll make them _pay._

His attacks got faster and harsher, and soon the two of them had difficulty suppressing the urge to _not_ hurt him back as they tried their best to dodge his attacks. The ground groaned and cracked, the grass was uprooted, and even a lone tree that had the bad fortune to come in his path was uprooted.

(Nana jumped as another tremble shook her house and sighed dazedly.

"Ara, looks like Kyoya-kun is playing hunt once again." Nana mumbled as she kept washing dishes and hummed under her breath, wondering if she should make some snacks after the children were done playing. They would get hungry after all this playing, right?)

* * *

Timoteo Vongola took in the destruction caused by the child that looked like a mini-copy of the Cloud Guardian of Primo, and there was only one thing in his mind. _Cloud._ The child was _definitely_ a cloud, considering how he flew into a rage when he saw someone under his protection being harmed – _even if the child didn't understand what was actually going on_ (Oh how wrong he was). He resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Because _of course_ the child happened to be a Cloud. Of course he was a Cloud that was equally – _if not more_ \- bloodthirsty like his predecessor infamous for his temper.

 _Jut his luck._

Sighing, he decided to put an end to this fight. First he would need to knock out the rampaging child before he gets out of control, and then have a _talk_ with them.

(Kyoya could feel something change instinctively, and from his years of experiences with fights, he _knew_ that Vongola Nono would retaliate. Something, he thinks that his baby Sky also understood – _thanks to his hyper intuition_ \- as his Sky Flames _roared_ -

-And before Kyoya could dodge or retaliate against the older man who though he could restrain Kyoya with a mere karate chop to his neck – _did this herbivore_ (because a carnivore would _neve_ r turn down a challenge from another carnivore, and Nono has been dodging him all this time and did not retaliate like a true carnivore) _actually think of him to be **so** **weak** to be defeated by a mere karate chop? He is asking to be bitten to death, right_?- he found himself staring at familiar brunette boy standing protectively before him, his hands and forehead lit up with _pure Sky Flames_ , and there was only one word that escaped Kyoya's lips at that moment, which described all his emotions perfectly-

 _"Wao.")_

 **(to be continued~)**

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 **AN:- Pfft, yeah right, I was joking. I could never do that to you guys. I REALLY wanted to end this chapter like this (amazing cliffie, isn't it?) but I couldn't. So, enjoy Tsu-kun's badassery that has been rubbed off on him by Kyoya.**

 **And give me some reviews in return, will ya?**

* * *

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He didn't expect his plan to go spectacularly wrong when he tried to knock the raven haired child out with a hand cloaked in hypnotizing Sky Flames -that'd make the child unconscious immediately- and found _another_ pair of hands clenching his Flamed hand tightly, lit in familiar orange flames that _pulsed_ with purity.

Timoteo Vongola blanched when he found himself staring into glaring amber eyes of a brunette, and a small, orange flame lit on his forehead. The very same flames were also lit on his hands, which held on tightly to his own hand that had been cloaked in Sky Flames.

Timoteo let the flames on his hands extinguish as his mind whirled with thoughts. The child – _Sawada Tsunayoshi_ \- was in Hyper Dying Will Mode, at the age of _five._ _Without any prior training or proper knowledge about his situation._ And he _had single-handledly_ stopped Timoteo from dealing a finishing blow – _even if the Mafia Boss had been paying more attention on the Cloud child and had been caught off guard_. there is only one word that summarized this situation perfectly.

- _What._

Tsunayoshi –when he released Timoteo won't move to attack _his_ friends, took a step back, and slid his eyes to give a warning glare to his _Papa_ , who stuttered god-knows-what as he stared at Tsuna with wide eyes.

"Tsuna," His father mumbled, "You-"

"No one here wants to hear anything from you." Tsuna declared, making Iemitsu shut up in an instant. His eyes then slid onto the older man before him, deeming him a threat greater than his Papa, and said, "Tsu-kun, no- " he paused, and then continued on, the amber in his eyes burned a brighter shade as he said, " _I_ don't like it when someone hurts my friends, and that is what you did when you-" he stared accusingly at Vongola Nono, "tried to do to Cloud-sa- _ahem_ , I mean Kyoya-san."

"But he attacked us first!" Iemitsu argued.

"He was protecting me." Tsuna said calmly. "I don't see how he had done anything wrong here." He then tilted his head and said, "He is a protector of Namimori. Anything he deems dangerous to Namimori's citizens is bitten to death. And I support him."

He then eyed the two older men as his intuition hummed and whispered conspiringly in his ears, and he said, "Your presence in Namimori brings danger here. It'd be better if you go back to wherever you came from." Iemitsu opened his mouth to argue once again but was cut off by Tsuna's stern, "Or do you _want_ people to get hurt because of you?"

The two men quietly shared a glance – _as if conversing with their eyes_ \- and in the end, it was Vongola Timoteo who said, "We will retreat then." He placed a reassuring hand over Iemitsu's shoulder and glanced at the young children before him. A protective Sky, a bloodthirsty Cloud, and a possessive Mist. If he didn't have any children, he'd have had chosen Tsunayoshi as his heir. Tsunayoshi would make a good Boss.

(Un)fortunately, he already had three sons who have been training to be his heir ever since they could walk. That means sooner or later, Tsuna would either have to join mafia – _with or without his consent_ \- or get his Flames sealed – _or suppressed_ \- if he wanted to live a civilian life. But then again, seeing how protective his Elements were being of their Sky – _which the baby Sky reciprocated easily_ \- maybe that won't be necessary.

They will retreat for now. Staying long on a foreign Sky' home - _especially when the foreign Sky's Cloud thinks of this place as his own territory_ \- was a disaster waiting to happen.

(There was a reason Sky Flames are the only Flames in nature that could harmonize with other flames. When a Sky rages, they can destroy as much as a Storm. In face of a conflict, it is the Sky that soothes down their Elements –just like how Rain calms the disputes. In face of adversity, a Sky's resolve shine as bright as the Sun. A Sky stands before his Elements, protecting them from harm, just like lightning that attacks head-first for the sake of their loved ones. The Sky suppresses their pain and worries and smiles for the sake of their elements and deceives them with grins and well placed words, just like Mist. And the Sky is very possessive of those they count as theirs, just like the Cloud.)

They will have to get away before this newly awakened Sky snaps, and rages – _bringing the fury of the Cloud and the Mist with him_. It's not that they can't deal with a raging Sky – _in fact, Timoteo has experience in it_ (considering he had deal with Xanxus on a daily basis, it isn't that much of a surprise) but Tsunayoshi is a young child who had just awakened his Sky flames and had already jumped to HDW-Mode. If he is pushed even more in this state, it will only harm the child further. So, for the sake of this child, they will retreat for now.

He'll send someone – _probably Lal, because Reborn won't deal with something as small as this_ (at least in his eyes) _until he asks it as a favor, and Timoteo would like to not waste Reborn's favors so easily_ (because you can't get the favor from the greatest Hitman in the World that easily)\- later to deal with this mess.

And so, Vongola Timoteo and Sawada Iemitsu retreated and went back to Italy, leaving behind three children, two of whom surrounded the brunette as soon as the Flames lighting on his hands and forehead disappeared, leaving behind severe burns and his exhausted body.

Kyoya grabbed Tsuna before he could collapse on the ground and clutched him closer to his chest. The brunette buried his head in his chest and inhales sharply.

"Cloud-san….."

"Sleep, baby Omnivore." Kyoya mumbled as he patted his head as if he were some sort of pet. "Everything will be fine."

Grey eyes flashed with pride as he pulled Tsuna closer to him and made his way through the backyard –that looked as if some disaster struck it- into Baby Omnivre's house, and muttered under his breath, "You did well, _mio Cielo."_

The brunette child's eyes fluttered open and stared dazedly at the person carrying him into the house. The fire inside him curled in pleasure, and the warmth he felt at Kyoya's compliment momentarily took over the pain.

"Thank you, _Cloud-san."_ Tsuna mumbled under his breath as he let himself fall unconscious, trusting his Cloud to protect him and care for him in his vulnerable state.

Hibari Kyoya just hummed in acknowledgement, but halted his steps a moment later and tilted his head a bit and mumbled, "You can drop the illusions now, Nagi, they won't be coming back to harm anyone anytime soon."

Nagi stared at him with an unreadable look in her eyes and then nodded. "Alright, onii-sama. I'll follow you in a moment."

Kyoya then shrugged and brought his Baby Sky into the house for a quick first aid, unaware of the way red flashed (with kanji of number Six) in Nagi's right eye.

With a wave of her –( _his?_ )\- hand, indigo flames flashed and shimmered around the ground, and suddenly the creepy carnivorous plants - _that and been inching nearer to the spot where Kyoya had been fighting Vongola Nono and Iemitsu_ \- disappeared. Heterochromatic eyes glanced contemplatively at the door the Skylark had just entered with his sky, and a moment later, a smirk bloomed on (not)Nagi's lips.

"Kufufufufufu~" A creepy laugh escaped her(his?) lips as (s)he mumbled under her(his?) breath. "How interesting~"


	10. Serendipity

**Serendipity-**

 _finding something good without looking for it._

* * *

Tsuna's whole body _ached_ as if a thousand elephants have stomped all over him. His body felt warm – _warmer than it usually felt to him even with the orange fire_ \- and feverish, his eyelids refused to open – _it was as if they have been glued to his lower eye-lid,_ his head was pounding against his skull and his limbs felt heavy and sluggish and they _hurt_ to even move.

A pitiful groan escaped his lips as he tried to shift in a comfortable position on his bed – _was this rally his bed? Why does it feel so comfortable?-_ with the fluffiest blankets draping him like a cocoon. A soft, relieved sigh escaped his lips as something damp and cool was pressed against his forehead. Someone shifted the fluffy blankets around him in a more comfortable position, while a slightly cooler hand patted his hair soothingly, making him smile unconsciously.

"Onii-sama, will Orange-san be alright?" A concerned voice asked.

"It's just _fiamma_ over-use; he'll be fine after a good, long rest." Someone replied, and it seemed like the voice this time came from someone sitting just next to him. tsuna relaxed as the person's soothing voice washed over him. This person has _really_ nice voice.

The other person asked hesitantly, "…But what about the burns on his hands and forehead?"

"….You worry too much, Nagi. He'll be fine."

"Hai."

Tsuna couldn't listen to much after that since sleep once again caught up with his conscious.

~O~

Tsuna woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. He blinked as he stared at his bandaged hands as well as forehead in bemusement, and then glanced at the bowl of water on the desk next to his bed along with a damp cloth and wondered if Mama took care of him last night. He tried to remember why his hands were bandaged, and how did he get hurt –but for some reason his memory was sluggish.

Another yawn escaped his lips as Tsuna stumbled out of his bed and made his way to the door – _side stepping the protruding corner of a chair which he **always** stumbles upon_. He then walked down the stairs – _ignoring that one step with a depression at the end which usually made him fall down the stairs clumsily_ \- and skipped the last step entirely because it made way too much creaking noise which grated on his nerves- _but usually he always forgot to skip this step._ Tsuna then walked towards the kitchen and greeted his Mama a "Good Morning" and then eyed the rest of the room for two more occupants with tensed shoulders –and sighed in relief when he found the room to be empty. He then frowned at his own thoughts. Strange, why was he feeling this way?

Nana whirled around to look at Tsuna and beamed when she saw he looked better than yesterday. "Ara, your fever must've gone down. You look better already, Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he mumbled, "Yeah, I feel fine now." He perked up as he remembered the water bowl and damp clothes in his room and said, "oh yeah, Mama, you took care of me last night, didn't you"

Nana blinked airily and shook her head, "No Tsu-kun, I was busy helping Papa and Nono-san pack up for their luggage for their flight. They had to go back urgently for their work." Nana sighed dreamily, "Ara, my husband is so hard-working!"

Tsuna raised a brow at her words. _'Papa has gone back?'_ For some reason, he only felt relief with her words. How strange.

He then blinked as he finally realized what she was saying, "W-Wait, you mean you weren't the one taking care of me last night? Then who was it?"

"I checked on you from time to time, but it was actually Kyoya-kun and Nagi-chan who stayed with you for the whole night, Tsu-kun." She beamed at him and exclaimed, "You've got really wonderful friends, Tsu-kun! You're so lucky~"

A soft smile escaped his lips as he stared at his bandaged hands and mumbled under his breath, "Yeah….. I am."

(Something inside him warmed at the thought, and he belatedly realized that the warmth happened to be his Sky Flames protectively wrapping itself around the partial harmonized bonds between his _Mist-chan_ and _Cloud-san_.)

* * *

"Kaa-san….." Nagi called out hesitantly to her – _adopted_ \- mother in her study. Yuna pushed way her paperwork and looked at Nagi with a beaming smile.

"Nagi-chan!" Yuna exclaimed as she got up from her chair and walked over her daughter and cooed, "How nice of you to visit your Kaa-chan!"

Nagi blinked her doe-like eyes and asked, confused, "But we just saw each other a few hours ago….."

Yuna nodded sagely, "they were _very_ long hours." She said and shot a glare to the paperwork innocently lying on her desk.

Nagi giggled at her words. Yuna just smiled and sat down on a nearby sofa, and picked Nagi up and settled her on her lap.

"So, why is my little Princess looking for me?" Yuna asked cheerily as she ruffled Nagi's pretty indigo hair.

Nagi just ignored her now messed hairstyle, and poked her fingers nervously. "A-Ano…. Kaa-san, you know Orange-san's Papa, right?"

Yuna's expression closed off a bit at her words, but she still kept a polite smile on her face and nodded encouragingly at her daughter.

"I-…" She took a deep breath and mumbled hesitantly, "I don't know if I should tell you….. I-I mean it's not m-my story to t-t-tell…. Maybe y-you should ask O-Onii-sama-!"

"Nagi," Yuna asked in a stern tone, even foregoing the suffix for once, _"what did he do?"_

"He bullied Onii-sama!" Nagi blurted out. She then gasped and placed her hands over her mouth, her wide eyes flashed in disbelief – _as if she couldn't believe she had actually a big secret._

Yuna's eyes narrowed as they flashed red –with a hint of purple- and she asked carefully, "Kyo-chan? Iemitsu bullied **_my_ **_Kyo-chan?"_

Nagi nodded hesitantly. "They were trying to hurt Orange-san," She tried to explain in a rushed tone, as if she were explaining Kyoya's actions. "So Onii-sama rushed to stop them, but…. they…." She trailed off, and tears welled up in her eyes –as if what happened next was sad and traumatic enough for her to make her cry.

"Nagi-chan," Yuna wrapped her hands around her daughter and embraced her in a soothing hug. "You did the right thing by telling me this. You're so, _so_ brave, my little Princess." She then kissed her cheek and placed her gently on the ground and said to the child with a smile, "Now if you'll excuse me," Her smile turned a bit frigid, and she _purred_ dangerously "I need to make some calls to some _very important_ people." She then ruffled Nagi's hair and said cheerily, "I'll make sure _no-one_ bullies my Kyo-chan and _gets away with it."_

Saying this, Yuna got up gracefully from the sofa and pulled out her phone from her pocket as she walked out of the study, closing the door behind her.

As the door closed before her, Nagi's teary eyes dried up, and the cute, clueless expression on her face morphed into a smug one. Her lips twitched up with a cunning smirk, and her right eye flashed red.

 _"Kufufufufufufu~_ " A creepy laughter rang around the room, followed by, "this should be enough punishment for the _idiota_ who tried to play with _my_ toys."

* * *

 **EXTRA-**

"Lal, please-"

"No."

"Listen, this is-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"But my poor, poor Tuna fishy~!" Iemitsu wailed and sobbed pathetically –with big, fat crocodile tears rolling down his cheeks. "You have to save my tuna-fishy! Those children are demons, I tell you! They'll corrupt my cute little tuna-fish!" Iemitsu said with a horrified look on his face.

"For god's sake-!" Lal pinched the bridge of her nose and jumped up to literally kick some sense into the utter _idiota_. "I have better things to do than to babysit your brat, Baka-mitsu!" Lal snapped at him. "Yeah, your kid has Sky Flames, big deal! If you're worried about him, then put some extra, competent protection around the kid, and if even that doesn't lessen your worries then for God's sake train your kid yourself –or get him some competent guardians!"

"That's the thing!" Iemitsu sobbed. "Those demon spawns I told you about – _they're flame active_! Just think about it, two flame active kids around my tuna-fishy- _a flame active **Sky**_! That's a recipe for disaster, Lal!"

Lal snorted. "What's the big deal then? Let the kids harmonize, that'll make your job easier."

"You don't understand!" Iemitsu let out an ear-piercing wail, making Lal twitch in annoyance. "There's a reason I call them demon-spawns! Those two kids are flame active _Cloud and Mist!"_ He sobbed and muttered incoherently, "Why did they have to be Cloud or Mist? Why not Rain, or loyal Storm, or Sun, or even lightning? Why the two most treacherous elements? _Why?_ "

Lal stared at him, flabbergast. There's one thing to find a Flame-active kid – _which in itself is surprising, because Flame-active kids are really un-common even in Italy_ –and to find three Flame-active kid with **_Sky, Cloud_** and **_Mist_** Flames –the rarest of the Flames of Sky? That's….. wow. That's some luck.

She understood now why Iemitsu was worried about his kid. Because harmonizing with a Mist or Cloud can be very trying for a Sky. Mist are very tricky and treacherous- _as a side-effect of their Flames, they unconsciously give off an aura that makes others unsettle_. For a Sky to harmonize with a Mist, they have to have utmost confidence and trust in them and have to accept their weirdness and general creepiness with open arms – _not many Skies in Mafia achieve that, considering most Mafioso don't trust others that easily._

The Cloud Flame Users are even a harder nut to crack. They are usually trigger-happy, and generally very possessive of things they think of their own. The attempt to harmonize with them usually ends up with the Skies getting a rampaging Cloud in their face, because Clouds **_hate_** being caged, and the initial attempt at harmonization always felt like someone is chaining them, which makes them rage even more. To harmonize with a cloud, a Sky has to remind the Cloud again and again – _with both words and actions_ \- that they aren't chaining them, and they're free to do whatever they want. hat if they don't want this courtship between fellow elements, then they can leave if they want. That it's their choice, and not the Sky's iron-fisted wish for harmonization.

"That's some luck your brat has got, Iemitsu." Lal said with a nod. "I'm impressed."

"You're not supposed to be impressed!" Iemitsu wailed. "You're supposed to help me protect my Tuna-fishy!"

Lal shot him an unimpressed look. "And what do you suggest I do, huh? Spank their butts to reprimand them?" she said sarcastically. When Iemitsu bobbed his head frantically, she couldn't help but stare at him speechless. "You're kidding right? You want me to butt in between a Sky courting his elements? Do I look that crazy to you?"

Lal admitted that she wasn't completely sane, especially after spending years with the utterly insane bunch that is the Arcobaleno – _the fact that they were cursed to stay infants didn't help their mentality_. But for all her craziness, even Lal knew that interrupting a Sky's courtship ritual was like facing Reborn before his morning espresso - (and the moron who dares to even think or doing so ***cough*** _Skull_ ***cough*** usually ended up being tortured by the sadist hitman)– _aka, it's utterly suicidal_.

Breaking apart a courting Sky and his elements is considering hazardous not because it wouldn't be - _physically and mentally_ \- healthy for them (though that is one of the reasons, minor one, really)\- but because the forced break-up usually follows with a raging Sky and their un-harmonised elements, and well, nothing in the world is more terrifying than a raging Sky.

So, yeah… Lal was strong, not suicidal.

"But,Lal-!" Iemitsu whined again, but was cut off by Lal.

"He's your son, right Deal with it yourself." She said flatly, "You're the head of CEDEF, for god's sake, I'm sure you can think of something. Though in my opinion, maybe you should back off. Or do you want your own son to rage against you for trying to forcefully make him break-up with his elements?"

Saying this, Lal turned around and walked out of his office, ignoring Iemitsu's crocodile tears and sobs. She had better things to do than to deal with his stupidity- like getting back to the Arcobaleno conference and get Godmother rights to Fon's kids – **cough, cough,** uh, she meant discussing about Pesca Famiglia's smuggling ring.

Yup. That's how it is.

* * *

 **OMAKE-**

"Hey, Reborn! Let us meet your kids, kora!" Colonello once again nagged Reborn.

"Yeah, yeah, Reborn-sempai! The great Skull-sama wants to meet his godchildren!" Skull exclaimed, but soon yelped and shrunk back when almost everyone turned to glare at him, and hissed in unison.

 _"Your Godchildren?!"_

Reborn cocked his Leon gun threateningly as he tilted his fedora and glowered at Skull. "I think I didn't hear you clearly. Did you just say you want to be the godfather of _my_ children, lackey?"

"I thought you said they weren't your kids?" Fon quipped with a raised brow.

Reborn waved his hand in a dismissive way. "Details, details."

Skull whimpered as he hid behind Fon, and seemed to find himself it a safe zone as he said in a false bravado tone. "Y-You tell him, Fon! The great Skull-sama will be the only one to be your children's Godfather!"

"I think you're mistaken. they are not my children, so I have no right to appoint anyone of you as their godparent. And even if I had the right to appoint one," Fon said calmly as he side-stepped, leaving Skull to the mercy of other Arcobaleno. "It won't be _you_."

Skull paled as he tried to run away, but to no avail. reborn grabbed his foot with his green Leon-whip and pulled him towards them. Skull was forcibly pulled towards the upcoming brawl that was just waiting to happen, and he couldn't help but wail, _"FON, YOU TRAITOR!"_

Fon let out a serene smile as he walked away from the rambunctious brawl that was happening between his fellow Arcobaleno –while dodging a stray bullet, Mist-vines and some loose and destroyed parts of –what must've been a robot- that somehow flew towards him and chuckled as he glanced at their brawling selves fondly.

 _Idiots, the lot of them._


	11. EXTRA- the Other Mist

**AN:-** **A gift from me for enduring with my irregular update schedule for months! Another update just a few hours after the previous one! Ain't I amazing *flips hair***

 **WARNING** - **mentions of dark themes, blood, gore, violence, angst, mention of character deaths and well, Mukuro's general creepiness and mental insanity. You have been warned.**

 **~O~**

* * *

"Kaa-san?" Kyoya asked hesitantly as he stepped into Nagi's room, and eyed his little sister who whimpered and moaned in her sleep.

Yuna changed the damp cloth over her daughter's sweating forehead and gave her son a reassuring smile. "Ah Kyo-chan, Na-chan will be fine. Why don't you get some sleep?"

Kyoya pursued his lips and shook his head. Like hell he can sleep without any worries while his sister is suffering!

Yuna seemed to have read his thoughts as she rolled her eyes fondly and waved him in. Kyoya walked over and crawled into the bed and sat near Nagi. He hesitated and asked, "Is it _Fiamma_ overload?"

Yuna's eyes narrowed as she asked, "How do you know?"

Kyoya stared impassively at her, his grey eyes didn't even flicker with any emotion. Yuna stubbornly stared at her son imploringly, but when he didn't give away anything, she sighed wearily. "I don't know how you know that, or _why_ you even know about Flames, but Kyo-chan, I will trust you." Her grey eyes flashed with love and affection as she mumbled, "I hope you can come to me when you're ready."

Kyoya stared at her blankly.

She once again let out another tired sigh as she patted Nagi's hair and said, "Yes, it's _fiamma_ overload. I don't even know why or how her Flames are overloading. I think some external factor is responsible for it." Her fists clenched tightly and her grey eyes flashed with worry. "Her body isn't accustomed to having such large amounts of Mist Flames, which that is why it is forcibly trying to adapt to such huge amounts of Flames to prevent it's self-destruction, which is taking a toll on her." She squeezed her eyes shut as if in pain, and mumbled in a sad tone, "I can't even help my own daughter, how useless am I?"

Kyoya's eyes narrowed and his grey eyes flashed amethyst for a second. He clenched his fists, digging his nails into the palm of his hand. If only his opponent was materialistic, then he could smash them with his tonfas and be done with it. But how can he overcome a sickness? He was a fighter, not a healer. What is the meaning of his power and strength if he can't even help his loved ones?

He was so useless. So utterly _useless._

For a carnivore, he was ashamed to have such a herbivorous weakness.

Yuna's phone rang, snapping both mother an child out of their trance. Yuna quickly pulled out her phone and glanced at the caller ID, and answered Kyoya's questioning look. "It's your Tou-san." She then picked up the phone and walked out of the room, so as not to disturb Nagi's fitful sleep.

Kyoya wasn't interested in his herbivorous father's arrival. He was quite displeased with the fact that the man wasn't here when his daughter was severely ill. Granted, Seiji had been in Tokyo for the last few days for the impromptu Clan meeting, and had ditched the meeting to return back home as soon as he heard about Nagi's condition. But well, the point was that _he wasn't here_ , and being busy dealing with the annoying herbivores of their clan was _no_ reason to _not_ be there when your loved ones need you.

Yes, Kyoya knew he was being petty. But so what? He was _Hibari Kyoya_ , he can be petty all he want, and _no one_ can stop him.

(Kyoya remembered in his past life when his mother had been admitted in the hospital for the first time, his father wasn't there. He was busy pleasing those annoying, _useless_ Clan elders while his own wife was in the hospital, wheezing in pain and coughing up blood. He remembered smashing his neighbor's doors at the dead of the night, threatening them to get his mother in the _goddamn car and drive them to hospital_ on that stormy night. He remembered clinging to his mother, reassuring himself that _nothing_ will happen to her, that everything was _fine_ , that _she will be fine_ -

-only to have his wishes _shatter_ like fine glass when the doctor told him the results of the diagnosis. **Leukemia**. He had said.

And you know what was worse? _His fucking father hadn't been there when the doctor informed a **ten year old** Kyoya that his mother was dying from **Blood Cancer**_.)

Hibari Seiji was a kind, passionate man with strong morals and a high sense of duty, who loved his family to death. But he had just one unfortunate flaw. He is _never_ there when his family needs him the most.

 _And Kyoya **hated** him for it._

* * *

Nagi walked forwards, her indigo eyes stared dully ahead in a daze –as if they couldn't quite take in her surroundings-

 _(Gunshots. A mutilated corpse. A cackling laughter.)_

She kept walking forward, the soles of her boots made horrible squelching sound as she marched forward on the path filled with-

 _(Corpses. Mutilated limbs. Blood.)_

Her tears were dried long ago. Her throat was hoarse. She had long since exhausted her limit for fear and horror. Now she felt nothing.

 _(Corpses of people killed by suicide. Rape. **Murder** )_

Her body felt heavier and heavier each step she took forward. But she dared not stop. She didn't know what was at the end of this path filled with this horror- _this kind of **inhumane** place._

 _(A pile of dead bodies of children lying in a pool of blood.)_

But she knew this will end. Soon.

 _(Greedy people buying human lives. Killing others for their own pleasure. Treating them as **slaves**.)_

 _Something_ was waiting for her at the end of this path.

 _( **Branding** them as if they were their property.)_

No, _some **one**_ was waiting for her at the end of this path. _Someone important_.

 _(Killing them like **animals**.)_

She wanted to meet them. No, she _had_ to meet them.

 _(Kidnapping young, innocent children. Torturing them. Killing them.)_

And that's why, she won't stop. She will _endure._

 _( **Experimenting** on them.)_

 ** _That is her resolve._**

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _And suddenly, the darkness was washed away as the world was set on fire that burned with indignant indigo flames._

 _._

 _._

 _._

(And in the distance, the figure of a pre-teen smiled.

Hetero-chromatic eyes – _one red and one a darker shade of blue_ \- gleamed and reflected the indigo fire as the pre-teen spoke, "Welcome, Nagi-chan.")

* * *

Nagi tilted her head and stared at the boy standing before her. He was a few years older than her, having pale skin – _even paler than Onii-sama's, and that's saying something_ , heterochromatic eyes, and dark blue – _indigo?_ \- colored hair that was strangely styled like a pineapple. He was very thin, and looked malnourished. He wore a hospital gown and stood bare feet over the blazing indigo flames, but for some strange reason, they didn't burn him.

"You…." Her eyes flashed in recognition and she stepped back warily, "You're the one I always see in my nightmares."

The boy raised a dark blue brow and chuckled. "Oya, I wasn't aware I was plaguing your dreams. I apologize for making you watch those horrible things, but in my defense, it was out of my control."

Nagi nodded. "I know. But doesn't mean I have to like it, though. " she then narrowed her eyes, "Don't think I'm not aware of what you have been doing all this time."

"Oh?" The boy asked cockily, "And what have I been doing, Nagi-chan?"

Nagi clenched her fists and she said angrily, "Do you think I'm an idiot? Those nightmares… those headaches….. those times when I blank out for even hours and remember nothing about what I have done at that time…. It was all your doing, right?! You somehow possess me, right?" She stared at him warily, "What are you, a ghost? A poltergeist?"

"Kufufufufufufu~" The boy couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "You think I'm a ghost?" He walked towards her and leaned over her, his faces inches from hers. "Are you afraid?" He asked in a mocking tone.

"No." Nagi said resolutely. "I'm not afraid of you."

the boy stared at her in amusement. "How brave of you." he said mockingly as he backed off from her. He didn't seem to believe in her.

Nagi stared at him impassively as the boy walked away from her leisurely. "I'm not lying. I'm really not afraid of you" she spoke. "How can I be afraid of someone who has been hurt so much that he's even afraid to call for help?"

The boy just glanced at her humorously and chuckled. "what pretty words you speak, nagi-chan."

"You should know if it's a lie or not, right, Experiment no. 583978?"

Finally, the indifferent smirk on the boy's face morphed into something else- a look of utter fury and disgust as he hissed under his breath in a tone of utter loathing, " _Don't. call. me. **that!"**_

Nagi resisted the urge to flinch as his heterochromatic eyes gave her a glare full of hatred and malice, as she bravely took a step forward and spoke softly. "I don't know why, but I heard your cries. Your pleas. _Your cry for help_." she tilted her head and asked, "That is why I am here, aren't I? Your fire cried out to mine for help, and that is why I was summoned here. To help you."

the boy didn't speak as the girl walked towards him, and barely flinched when her soft hands grazed his cheek.

"What did they do to you?" She asked sadly, as if feeling his _paindespairsadnessmalicehatehatehATEHATE-!_

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips as he shoved her away from him, but she quickly grabbed his arm –sensing that if she let him go now, he may never appear before her. He was fleeting, confusing, decieving- just like the Mist. And Nagi understood him well.

 _After all, she was a Mist too._

* * *

The boy frowned and tugged away from her harder. He wanted her to stay away from him. What would she know? After all, she had a loving family –doting parents, a loving brother, an affectionate best-friend, kind friends- what more could she want? She didn't know what it was like to be betrayed by your own parents, to be sold by them to despicable human beings who experimented on children… to be treated like guinea pigs….. To be tortured every day in the name of 'science'….. To live a life even worse than animals….

What would a pampered girl like her know about the hardships he faced every day?

(The indigo fire beneath his feet darkened and _raged_ , as her own pale indigo flames tried to soothe it down. As her fire interacted with his, she could –for some reason- _feel_ what feeling. And suddenly, she _understood._ ) 

"I know." She whispered. A sad smile escaped her lips as she mumbled, "I know what it is like to be betrayed by the ones you love…. to be treated like dirt by a so-called _family._ "

Images flashed through his head- _of a toddler Nagi being verbally abused for simplest of things by her parents…. of being slapped for even speaking out of turn…. of being forced to do household chores, and even then being scolded when messed up… of being treated like a servant by her own **birth parents** …._

 _-of being sold by her own parents to a minor Mafia famiglia looking for flame-active kids….. of being imprisoned for weeks with meagre food or water along with other children… of losing hope every single day and feeling utter despair…._

And then the image before his eyes changed as another scene flashed in his mind-

"But I also have been lucky enough to be saved by someone." Nagi spoke.

 _-…..of being saved by a child with dark hair, grey eyes glinting with compassion and bravery, and his violet fire that curled around her in a protective embrace._

"You also know how that feels right?" Nagi said with a small smile on her face. "You have been saved by him too, haven't you?"

the boy's breath hitched as deep grey eyes flashed in his mind and familiar words echoed, penetrating deep in his bones.

.

.

.

 _ **" la mia nebbia…. I'll protect you, I promise."**_

.

.

.

He wasn't supposed to fall for this trick. He is the very incarnation of _Mist_ -he is supposed to deceive _others_ , instead of being deceived by others. But deep, _deep_ down, he knew that no one was deceiving him. The warmth slowly pooling inside him didn't lie.

He _knew_ that he wasn't being deceived. His heart was being stripped bare before this tiny creature, this mere slip of a girl who –for some reason- could _understand_ him much, much better than he could understand himself.

The boy choked out, "How did you know?"

Nagi smiled warmly at him, "Your fire doesn't lie, Mukuro-kun." She gestured to the side, and he stared, startled as his own darker indigo Flames were now mixed with her lighter ones.

Her small, dainty hand, clutched his slightly larger one and she asked, "So, I'll ask again, Mukuro-kun." Her eyes flashed with concern, which only made him feel even warmer. _"What did they do to you?"_

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips and his heterochromatic eyes momentarily flashed with pain as he spoke. "They killed me." He said bitterly. She gasped. "They killed me, and then brought me to life. Again. _Only to kill me, **again and again, and again** ._"

This time, it was the lighter indigo flames that **_raged_** _._

* * *

A boy and a girl sat together, finding solace in a world that blazed with various shades of Indigo Flames. "How could they….?" She whispered, her voice quivering with rage, and pain – _for him_. _"How dare they-!"_

The boy with heterochromatic eyes –" _Mukuro"_ the flames seem to whisper in her ear- lightly bumped his shoulder with hers, and said indifferently, "The first time I was killed was about a year ago." Nagi smothered her rage and quietened down as he spoke, feeling that whatever he's telling her is important. "They shot me with a gun. the bullet had clearly pierced through my brain. I thought I would die." Her fingers clutched his sleeves a bit tighter at his words, and his eyes flickered to hers. "But then I found myself before your precious Onii-sama, and he was conversing with me normally, as if he hadn't realized that he wasn't facing his sister anymore. That was the first time I met him."

He wearily stared at the vast sea of indigo flames that blazed around them, and mumbled, "After that, every time I was killed by them, I found myself in your body momentarily, and when my original body recuperated, I would find myself back in my body –floating in that tank with disgusting chemicals. After the third time that happened, I managed to learn how to control and possess you on my own, and after that, I would occasionally switch my conscience with your body –just so I could get away from those _monsters._ "

Nagi shifted her knees closer to her chest, and let her head rest on them. Mukuro continued on blankly, "A few days ago, they injected something in me, and the sensation that followed was similar to the times I had been killed by them." His heterochromatic eyes flashed with loathing as he hissed out, "they've already killed me five times by then, Nagi. _Five times_. And each time I'm killed, my soul has to pass through _literal hell_ –and do you know what's worse? I remember _every. single. moment. of. it_." Her fingers clenched tighter into her fist, and she knew that if she dug her nails any deeper into her palm, she might even start bleeding. But did she care? _Nope_.

"this is the sixth time. they expect me to wake up once again, the bunch of fools." Mukuro sneered, "What would they know of the utter _agony_ I have to go through every single time they kill me and force my soul to remember past lives and atone for sins I've never committed in hell? What would _they_ know of my pain and struggle to defy death and _to just keep breathing?!_ They know _nothing!"_ He took in deep breaths and glanced at Nagi and gestured to their surroundings that were now nothing but a sea of indigo fire – _but once was a field of scenes so horrible that would terrify even the most ruthless Mafioso_ \- and he said, "I thought I would die this time. For real. That I would not breathe again, would not wake up- _would not even get the chance to enact my revenge._ The Sixth path, the **_Path of Human_** is the worst kind of hell I could suffer." He shuddered.

"I didn't mean to drag you here." He admitted as he side-stared at her. "For some reason, our Flames are connected, and in desperation, they summoned you here in this hell, with me. I didn't mean to drag you in this mess."

"I'm glad I'm here, Mukuro." Nagi said quietly as she patted his shoulder. "I'm glad, because, at least, now you're not alone."

* * *

A lone indigo eye snapped open, and blearily gazed at the white ceiling. The disgusting smell of disinfectant and other chemicals wafted through his nose, reminding him of his current location. The machines attached to his person through various tubes and needles were giveaway too. He is back. back in the lab.

Back with those inhumane scientists who _dared to experiment on him….. to murder him again and again for their petty reasons._

He distantly heard those scientists cheer as they took in his conscious state, and discussed and argued about the next step for this experiment. Now, now, he can't just let them carry on with this, can he? they had been generous enough to gift him _again and again_ with death, he should also gift them something in return, right?~

His hoarse throat let out a chuckle as he flushed his system with Flames to put off the effect of the various drugs affecting his body – _decieving himself into thinking that his body was perfectly normal, and that he hasn't been drugged for years_ -and he willed himself to sit up and pulled off the wires and tubes attached to his person.

"What are you doing?" one of the scientists exclaimed.

"Stop him!" another spoke out harshly.

"Kufufufufufu~" he chuckled mockingly. "Now that won't do."

Indigo Flames burned as a trident materialized in is hands, and _her_ voice rang in his mind-

 _"I promise I'll help you."_

He pulled off the bandage wrapped around his right eye, and smirked condescendingly at the scientists as he twirled the trident in his hand and said playfully "I haven't even started playing yet~"

He slammed the trident on the ground, and reality seemed to warp itself as the floor, and the walls, and the ceiling warped, making the scientists –and the guards who had now rushed into the room at the sudden alarm- feel dizzy and unable to stand properly.

Mukuro tsked at the stumbling fools and mumbled, "How disappointing, is that all you've got?" His red eye flashed with kanji of number _'Three'_ and Mukuro spun his trident. Light indigo Flames flickered over the trident and washed over the room, materializing poisonous snakes and wild dogs as they attacked his opponents, splashing the white pristine walls of the facility with blood.

Mukuro's lips twitched upwards as he unleashed his – _and Nagi's_ \- flames and enacted his much awaited vengeance. Only when not a single adult in the facility remained alive that he finally let go of his flames. He flinched as his limbs ached with utter exhaustion, and his body seemed to hurt everywhere. But still a satisfied smile appeared on his lips as he caressed his trident fondly.

Wary footsteps sounded from the hallway, and Mukuro turned curiously towards them, wondering who could it be. His Flames weren't warning him against them, so that means the people approaching him were not threat to him. Besides, even if they were any threat to him, Nagi's Flames – _that he had now suppressed into the trident_ \- would definitely deal with it. She was over-protective like that. Her still remembered her words before they parted-

 _"After all, you're my other half- **the other Mist**."_

That Onii-sama of hers must've rubbed off on her. _Tch, what an idiot._

Still, a fond smirk made his way to his lips as he stared curiously at the barely hanging door, and soon enough, two young boys hesitantly walked into the room, eyeing the scene of utter massacre – _what with corpses of scientists and guards lying on his feet, and their blood pooling on the floor_ \- with wide eyed disbelief. How adorable~

"Oya, oya, what do we have here~" Mukuro spoke leisurely as he turned to them and smiled creepily, "two lost little lambs?"

He held out his hand to them and _purred_ , "Would you like to come with me to the dark side?" he asked mockingly, "We have cookies~"

* * *

 **A/N:- And... Ladies and Gentleman, this is how a single chapter can destroy the whole cannon into pieces. XD I know, I know, I'm such an awesome author! Bow down before the greatness that is me and my brain! LOL**

 **Ahem, let's get down to business, shall we? So... Yup. Many of you speculated that Mu-kun might have memories of the canon-verse, as well as the future our Kyo-chan is from. Well, that isn't true here. Mu-kun isn't the Mu-kun from Kyoya's past. He doesn't have memories of being Vongola Mist Guardian. he's just like the other chibi-vongola. Since Kyo-chan's actions have knowingly or unknowingly changed many a things till now, it's a given that the relationship between Nagi and Mukuro will obviously change. keep in mind that this Mu-kun hasn't been hardened by Estraneo's experiments, because of that lucky,coincidental (cough,cough) possession of Nagi the first time he was forced to go through the Path of reincarnation, and encountered Kyoya's soft side. After that, he kept dropping in to watch the chibi-Vongola's madness, and got addicted to their kind of craziness. so yup, this Mu-kun isn't gonna be as creepy, elusive and tsundere as canon!Mukuro is. he's gonna be sassy, hilarious, and an utter creepy-ish sis-con pineapple.**

 **P.S. by the way, how did you find Mukuro's classic 'Welcome to the dark side' greeting? Hilarious, isn't it?**

 **P.P.S. Reviews? Anyone? Not even for our creepy, lovable pineapple?**


	12. Eccedentesisst

**_Eccedentesisst_**

 _someone who fakes a smile when all they want to do is cry, disappear, and/or die_

* * *

Seiji's grip on his phone tightened a bit as he pulled it away from his ear and resisted the violent urge to throw the device against the wall. He took in a shaking breath as he leaned against his leather chair and ran his fingers through his hair to somewhat calm himself down- _to no avail_.

(Panic clawed inside him, making him almost lose control on his primal instincts that thrummed beneath his skin, just waiting to be unleashed on those _utter bastards-!_ But he reined his temper in, thinking of the consequences that'd definitely follow if he goes on a rampage. Sometimes, he really envied his son, who could throw a tantrum and act on his whim to rampage as much as he wanted, without worrying of the consequences… But, well, he wasn't a child anymore. He can't just do what he damn pleased, and leave everything to his Aniki-

-he's grown up now. He knew what's at stake. And if he can help out his brother in any way to protect his family, then he damn will do it.

 _Even if it means he'd have to push his own son to the fiery pits of hell to do it….)_

Yuna's dainty hands lightly massaged his shoulders, making him relax his tense shoulders. She hummed under her breath and asked softly, "What did Elder Brother say?"

And just like that, the tension returned. Yuna stopped the massage and walked around the desk to look straight into his eyes so as to discern his expressions. She frowned in concern and asked, "…Seiji-kun? What happened?"

He pursued his lips and wondered if he should tell her or not. Tobe honest, Kyoya took after his mother in terms of temper and it's control – _or it's lack thereof_. While he had an excellent control over most of his emotions, Yuna on the other hand was very expressive, and was quite quick to anger _. Especially when it comes to her kids._

But, _well…._ he can't just keep this issue away from her. After all, she is Kyoya's mother. She needs to know, so that she can be prepared.

"Aniki finally announced his decision to the clan." Seiji grimaced, "He chose Kyoya as his heir."

Yuna stared at him blankly, and a moment later, she spoke darkly,

 _"What?"_

* * *

 _"Achoo!"_ Kyoya sneezed, making the rest of the baby herbivores in his class quiver in terror as they inched even further away from him. Kyoya sniffed and shot them a glare, making them sit ramrod straight and snap their heads towards the teacher – _and away from his corner of the class_ , making him nod in satisfaction _. He's trained them well._

The teacher sweat dropped at their antics, but didn't say anything since she's been experiencing Kyoya's violent ways since day one, since it has been almost three years since she had started teaching the bloodthirsty Hibari child and she was now used to this particular child's antics. So, she just cleared her throat and announced her students with a bright smile – _clearly ignoring Kyoya's glower from **his** corner of the classroom_, and spoke, "Our school –along with Namimori North Elementary school- has collaborated to organize a Summer camp this year. If anyone of you is interested, then I'd like you to get your permission slip signed by your parents-" She tapped the bundle of paper in her hands as she started leisurely distributing them to each and every student in her class, and continued on, "-by the end of this week. The details are all written at the back of paper." She then glared at them sternly, and warned, "I'd like to remind you that children from North Elementary will also be there, so if you choose to go, you better be on your best behavior."

The children immediately started chattering excitedly, wondering all kinds of things they would experience in the Summer camp, the kind of food they'd get to eat, the people they'd meet and all that. the teacher passed the papers to the eager children, and finally reached the very backseat of the classroom where one Hibari Kyoya sat leisurely on his chair, staring at the teacher with half-lidded eyes.

The teacher relaxed a bit – _seeing that Kyoya's wasn't outright glaring like he usually did_ \- and with a smile placed down the flyer on his desk. "You'll come too, right, Hibari-kun?" She asked hesitantly, trying to make small talk to ease her nerves.

Kyoya just shot the paper lying innocently on his desk a disdainful look, and bit out, _"Not. going."_ Saying this, he grabbed his plastic tonfas – _the school just kept confiscating his metal ones even after he beat up that damn janitor twice for this utter idiocy of his, damn morons_ \- and sauntered out of the class right in front of his teacher –ignoring the fact that the bell hasn't even rung yet.

The teacher sighed and scratched his cheek. Well, at least the Summer camp will be – _somewhat_ \- peaceful with the absence of the demon child and his violent tendencies. Silver linings, really.

* * *

Somewhere in the Second Grade Classroom, a certain brunette stared at the blue haired girl sitting on seat in front of him. He shot a quick glance at the flyer in his hand and leaned a bit forward and spoke loud enough for his friend in the front seat to hear, "So, what are the chances of Cloud-san actually agreeing for this trip?"

"Are you asking or confirming, Orange-san?" Nagi leaned against her chair and asked dryly.

"Just confirming." he said with a shrug.

"The chances are _obviously_ nil." Nagi rolled her eyes, "As if Onii-sama would lower himself to take part in such herbivorous activities."

Tsuna's lips twitched, and he resisted the urge to sigh. "Have you been spending more time these days reading those Cloud-san's stupid books about ' _How to be a true Carnivore'_?"

Nagi's cheeks flushed red, and she could almost hear Mukuro's amused chuckle ringing through her mind. _Tch, bastard_. "Hey, it's quite interesting, okay?" She defended herself.

"Sure, sure." He said with an eye-roll. "So….." he said as he side-eyed the pamphlet regarding Summer Camp and asked, "Any idea how we can take him with us to the Summer Camp?"

"Bribery, blackmail or kidnapping- choose one." Nagi said calmly as she shifted a bit to sit more comfortable on her bench.

"Bribery it is." Tsuna immediately decided, and the two of them shared a discreet high-five – _so as not to gain their teacher's attention._

(Meanwhile Kyoko giggled as she watched her deskmate interact with her friend that sat behind her and exclaimed brightly to her friend, "They're so funny, right Hana-chan?"

Hana just shot Nagi and Tsuna a disbelieving look and mumbled under her breath in flabbergast, "What kind of normal seven-year old would plot about bribery or kidnapping so casually?")

* * *

That evening, the dinner in Hibari household was a tense affair. The servants stood at a corner with their heads bowed down, and didn't even dare _breathe_ loudly in case they gain their employer's ire. Yuna cooed at her children and kept filling their bowls and attending to their needs, while giving her husband a cold shoulder. Seiji, surprisingly, did not even attempt to make up with Yuna – _which he'd usually do every time they fought or argued over something_. Kyoya and Nagi shared a look and decided they were better off not knowing what made their mother tick this time, and wisely focused their attention to the food.

After finishing his food, Seiji placed his chopsticks on his empty bowl, got up and walked away from the dinner table, without even waiting for the others to finish their food. Kyoya only glanced at him in disinterest, while Nagi stared at his retreating back with confusion and worry. She was snapped out of her trance by Yuna, who patted her head softly and spoke, "Eat up, sweetie. Don't worry about silly things."

Nagi hesitantly picked up her chopsticks once again and started eating, and glanced back at the door every once in a while.

"Kaa-san…" Nagi asked once the dinner was finished. "Did something happen between you and Tou-san?"

Yuna pinched her cheeks lightly and giggled, "Aw… Na-chan, you're such a worrywart! You shouldn't worry your pretty little head about this." She patted her cheeks and said, "I've got it handled, okay? Your father and I just had an argument." Nagi hesitantly nodded and walked to her room. Kyoya stayed back.

"Is it about the Clan's succession war?" Kyoya asked bluntly, remembering something like this happening in past life.

In his last life, his Uncle had chosen him as the heir – _since he did not have any child of his own, and he loved his late-wife enough to not marry again and decided to live as a widower_ \- causing an uproar in the Clan. Hibari Seiji was the illegitimate child of the previous Leader of Hibari Clan. So even if his Uncle chose him as the heir, many people in the clan – _especially the Elders_ \- did not accept his decision because they thought that as a son of the illegitimate child of their previous leader, therefore he was not acceptable as the next leader because of his _'dirty blood'_. The last time this lead to the many, _many_ attempts to his life, which only stressed his mother who did her best to protect him from the cross-fire. The stress and constant worry for his well-being only worsened her condition, and a year later she had to be hospitalized. Kyoya didn't know what happened after that with the clan issue since he was too busy caring for his mother and loathing all his male relatives for leaving his mother to fend for herself in such critical times when she needed them the most, that he never paid any mind to what had happened to the Clan after that. He just knew a few months later after his mother died that he had been rescinded from the heir position, and someone else was chosen. He hadn't cared. In fact, he had _loathed_ that position, because it was only because of that position that his mother had to suffer so much.

This time, he won't let history repeat again. _Never again._

Yuna stared at her son, and sighed heavily. "How did you know?"

"I just know." he said blankly.

Yuna shook her head and waved her son towards her, and he obediently stepped nearer to her. She sat on a sofa nearby and took her precious little boy into her arms, and made him sit on her lap as she cuddled with him. Kyoya just stiffened at the contact, but did not protest against it. He _couldn't_ , after all, this was his _mother_. The only person who loved him the most in the whole world, to even _die_ for his sake. He'd never, _ever_ forsake her for anyone else. _Never._

"Oh, my baby…" she mumbled softly as she kissed the back of his head and clutched him tighter in her embrace. "You're so, _so_ smart, and capable even at such a young age. I'm _so_ proud of you."

His ears turned red as warmth filled inside his chest at her words.

She exhaled and asked reluctantly, "Then you also know whom your Uncle has chosen as his successor?"

"It's me, isn't it?" he said quietly.

At his words, her eyes flashed with something, and she agreed with gritted teeth. "…..Yeah. It's you."

He turned to stare at her and stated. "You're not happy."

"I'm not." She once again agreed with him. She then let her fingers run through his hair and said softly, "Kyoya," he stiffened. He'd _never_ said his full name before. It was always that accursed nickname _"Kyo-chan."_ and never just " _Kyoya"_. "Hibari-clan is like a den of bloodthirsty tigers…. That place is filled with _monsters_ who think of nothing but personal gain. They're ruthless to anyone whom they think of as an obstacle." She closed her eyes and said in a pained tone, "They'd _crush you."_

"But I'm a carnivore." Kyoya insisted. "I'll just bite them to death."

Yuna chuckled and ruffled his hair and cooed at her adorable son. "Silly Kyo-chan, not everyone can just be beaten to submission." She embraced him in her arms and said softly, "Some fights can only be won by words. And unfortunately, both you and I are bad at it."

Kyoya scowled unhappily. "I can still win." He insisted.

A chuckle escaped her lips. "Yes, yes, of course." She said appealingly to her son. "Whatever you say, Kyo-chan. Whatever you say."

(Nagi leaned against the pillar she was hiding behind inside the room, shrouded by the Mist Flames that helped her blend in the surroundings and hid her from her brother ad her mother's sight. As she listened to their conversation, she clenched her fists as her eyes blurred with tears. There's no way she can help out her family. She was too _weak_ \- _she wasn't skilled in fighting, like her brother_. She also wasn't related to them by blood, which means there's no way she can help her Onii-sama out if there's any problem related to "Clan" matters. 

_Damn it, just when she thought she could finally help her brother out with something-!_

 _"Kufufufufu~"_ Mukuro's voice whispered mockingly in her ear as he talked to her through their mind-link, _"Trouble in paradise, Na-chan?"_

She blinked tears away from her eyes and an idea formed in her mind. She couldn't do anything _alone_ , right? But who said she had to _fight alone?_

Besides, Onii-sama can win battles if he fights with his fists. What he lacks is someone who can battle with words. _She'd be that person._

 _She'd be the **Mist** that hides her family from harm and deceives the enemies for the sake of her loved ones._

"Mu-kun," Her eyes shone with resolve as she mumbled, "I need your help."

 _"Oya, what do you need?"_ he asked in his usual creepy tone.

"Be my eyes and ears in the outside world," she said "And teach me diplomacy."

 _"And what do I get in return?"_ he asked, amused.

She knew he was just teasing her for shits and giggles. He'd of course do what she told him to, but getting something in return for his "hard-work" was just a bonus. After all, deceiving everyone for the sake of convenience- that is what a _Mist_ actually is, isn't it?

She mulled over his words and decided to play along. After all, it's no harm to make this into a mutually beneficial deal for both. "You're literally on streets right now, and you also have two more mouths to feed, right? I'll provide you with money for basic necessities, and I can even try to make use of some contacts of Kaa-san and Tou-san for you. They might come in handy…." 

_"Oya, how generous of you~"_ Mukuro chuckled. _"You have a deal, then."_ )

* * *

Tsuna pouted in frustration as he kicked a pebble distractedly as he walked, and wondered how to convince Kyoya to come to Summer Camp with them. Kyoya had downright refused when he had asked his opinion, and these days even Nagi seemed reluctant to go to the Camp. He knew there was something worrying his friends, but he didn't know what it was. It didn't help that they were being quite secretive about this stuff, and he almost put his foot down to throw a tantrum and demand answers from them when Nagi admitted that it'd be better if they forego the Summer Camp this year.

It's not that Tsuna was particularly excited specifically about this Summer Camp – _in fact, it was quite opposite, Tsuna **hated** anything athletic related with a burning passion. _No, what he was enthusiastic about was all the time he'd get to spend with them doing things like that, and even if he hated stuff like this, he admitted that anything is more fun when you do it with friends.

He sighed for the umpteenth time in the last fifteen minutes, and wondered if he should just ask Kusakabe-san to drug the both of them and kidnap them and be done with it. Or maybe he should bribe Mist-chan and Cloud-san with chocolates and Hamburger respectively, maybe that'd work. Or maybe-

-the orange fire inside him suddenly burned in agitation, and Tsuna tilted his head and held out his right hand just before his face like his fire told him to-

 _Thwack!_

-only stared in disbelief at the ball that had directly slammed into his hand. if he had been a second later with his impromptu catch, he might've gotten injured – _or worse, a concussion_ \- what with the unbelievably high speed the ball had been coming at him with.

"Ow!" Tsuna jerked his hand a bit when pain overcame his surprise a moment later, and winced when he saw his palm turning red. It really was a miracle that he caught this ball, or else he had a feeling he'd have to visit a hospital if the ball had struck him.

A pair of footsteps rushed towards him and Tsuna looked up at the taller boy who panted as he neared him.

"Ah, sorry, sorry! I hope you're not hurt!" the boy grinned at him, making Tsuna blink and shift uneasily on his feet. _Is it just him or was the boy's smile was a bit fake?_

He shook his head and replied quickly, "I'm not hurt." he then glanced at the baseball in his hand and asked, "Is this your ball?"

"Yeah!" The dark haired boy exclaimed as his smile turned a bit real. "I was playing baseball with a few kids there!" he pointed at the park nearby. "You wanna join us?"

Tsuna shook his head again "I-I don't know how to play baseball." he said quickly.

"Really?" the boy said, surprised. "But your catch was really amazing! The ball came _Vroom!_ and you caught it like _Swish!_ and it was **_so_** amazing!" the boy gushed excitedly, his eyes sparkled with life as he spoke with exaggerated hand-motions.

Seeing the boy's enthusiasm made Tsuna's lips twitch upwards in a warm smile.

"You know," He spoke, his eyes flashing orange for a second, freezing the other boy. "Your real smile is much, _much_ prettier than your fake smiles. I do like it when you smile. But," he paused and tilted his head, and spoke, "If you don't wanna smile, then it's okay too, Rain-san. Just please don't put a fake mask of happiness, you will only hurt yourself this way." Saying this, Tsuna handed him his baseball and started walking away.

The boy didn't know what it was that drove him to say his next words, but years later, he was really glad that he said them that day. "I am Yamamoto Takeshi!" He called out to the other boy.

Tsuna paused and turned to answer the boy, "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi." he said with a bright smile on his face.

"Will I ever see you again?" Takeshi asked, his eyes flashing in desperation and the flames inside him - _that he was unaware of_ \- rippled in agitation when they saw a potential Sky – ** _their_** _Sky_ \- walking away from them.

"Of course!" Tsuna smiled warmly at him, "I have a feeling we'll meet again." he then waved his hand in a gesture of goodbye and walked away, but not before saying, "Till then, Rain-san."

Takeshi waved back to his new – _friend? acquaintance? Meh, whatever_ \- with a bright grin on his face, and it wasn't until the brunette disappeared from his view that he finally noticed one thing-

"Wait, why did he call me _Rain-san?"_

* * *

 **EXTRA- 1**

"So…" Yuna said cheerily as she patted her children's hair fondly and asked, "I heard from Nana-chan that Tsuna-kun is quite depressed these days. Do you know anything about that?"

Kyoya shot his mother a quizzical look, while Nagi stared away guiltily.

"I'll give you a hint then," Yuna hummed under her breath, and mumbled, "Nana-chan thinks it's something related to the two of you and some extracurricular activities that are being organized by your school."

Realization dawned on Kyoya and he shared a look with his sister, which did not go unnoticed by Yuna.

Yuna sighed, and tugged them closer to her body, and asked in a song-song voice-

"So, what is this about Summer Camp, and why did my cute little kids didn't agree to go there?"

Nagi shrunk back a bit as she recognized the sharp tone hiding just below her cheery tone, and gripped Kyoya's hand for support. Kyoya, being the stubborn kid he was, faced his mother headfirst and said-

"Because it's a herbivorous thing to do?" however, even for all his bravado, he couldn't face his mother headfirst – _what? she's **scary** , okay?_\- and he winced as his statement sounded more like a question.

Yuna tilted her head, her eyes flashed as if promising _pain_ if they answered wrongly, and mumbled, _"Try again."_

"..."

 _~O~_

 **(A few days later…..)**

The Hibari siblings glowered at their brunette friend who had a shit eating grin on his face.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Nagi asked as she pointed at her friend accusingly.

"What?" Tsuna asked with a way too innocent smile on his face which didn't fool his friends a bit.

Nagi huffed. "You incited Aunt Nana to talk to Kaa-san about sending us the Summer Camp, because you knew Kaa-san would _never_ say no to Aunt Nana."

Tsuna tilted his head and asked questioningly, "Oh? Is that what happened?" His innocently curious persona was ruined by the mischievous twinkling of his amber eyes.

Kyoya's eye twitched as he glowered at the brunette, "Baby omnivore, _I'll bite you to death for this!"_

"And I'll even help him with it!" Nagi stared at him, unamused.

Tsuna just grinned at them. "Sure, "he chirruped excitedly, "You do that when we reach the Camp. But first, let's get on the bus, or we'll get let behind." He pointed at the bus, and said, "You don't want to get chewed out by Aunt Yuna, right?"

His words earned him another glare from the both of them.

"This isn't over yet, Baby Omnivore." Kyoya hissed out as he stalked towards the metallic-contraption-on-wheels that was now obviously filled with herbivorous kids, and wondered if _biting the Baby Omnivore to death is worth all this headache._

Tsuna's snicker only made him even angrier.

 _Definitely not._

* * *

 ** _EXTRA-_**

 **the Skylark's ever loyal companion, Pt. 1**

A pair of eyes blinked and stared at the darkness that surrounded them. They think they've been floating in this strange, but comfortable darkness for a long time now. For some reason, they felt ….. warm, and safe. As if nothing could ever hurt them.

 _So just stay here….._ the darkness seemed to lull them.

If they were anyone else, they'd have been deceived by the promise of warmth, comfort and safety. But they weren't anyone else. They've spent too much time around the treacherous fruit(?) to be wary of such obvious deception. Besides, they had better things to do than to basking this _warmthhappinesslovelovelovelove_ -

It was tempting. So very tempting. But they dared not fall for this trick.

There were things to be done….. places to go…. people to visit….

Who has the time to be stuck in unknown dark places anyway?

(They could feel _him_. They knew that _he_ was alive. And _he_ was waiting for them. It's bad to make _him_ wait. _He_ wasn't very patient, after all.)

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

They smacked against the hard covering surrounding them repeatedly. They were exhausted from their efforts, but they dared not stop. The sooner they get out of here, the sooner they can meet _him._

(After all, _he's_ waiting-! )

CRACK-!

A small crack appeared on the walls surrounding him. Light filtered in through the gap, lighting up their world. Overjoyed, they doubled their efforts. The small crack widened, and it spread in a seemingly zig-ag pattern. Another push, and the dark walls came undone, giving way to bright light that almost blinded them.

Blinking to adjust to the light, they narrowed their eyes and stared at their surroundings with teary eyes. they stared stupidly at their – _older, bigger_ -kin that surrounded them as they crowed and tweeted at them in delight.

They glanced around nervously, looking for the one person they had struggled against the darkness for – _the one person who left them….. the one whom they had chased after even through the realms of death…._

A pale feathered head blocked their vision as the elder – _Mother?_ \- nudged them lovingly and fluttered her wings to pat him affectionately. Any other new-born chick would've responded by snuggling against them.

But they weren't just any new-born chick now, were they?

They puffed their feathers and flapped their baby wings angrily, throwing a tantrum. _You're not the one I want to see at the moment!_

Unhappy~

They ignored their feathered kin as they tittered around him worriedly, wondering why the new-born chick was behaving strangely. They stared pitifully at the pitiful amount of feathers dotting their wings –which were close to none- and then sighed.

They could feel that the journey to finding their human was going to be a _long_ one. Sigh.

Meh, it didn't matter. They'll definitely find him, sooner or later.

(They –no, **_he_** \- will not abandon his human. Not even for death. **_Never again_**.) 

But….. Wouldn't it be better if _he_ had been here to take care of th- _ahem_ , him? He missed _him_. He truly did.

And so, he couldn't help but call out for _him_ pitifully-

"Hibari~ Hibari~"

* * *

 **OMAKE- 1**

Lal picked up her phone to look at the new messages, and gave out an annoyed sigh as she saw one from Iemitsu. Apparently, the idiot actually sent her the photos of those so called 'demon' children who kicked him and Nono out of the town and were rumored to be in midst of a Harmonization-courtship ritual with his son. He was still thinking that she'd deal with this mess after she was done with the Arcobaleno conference. _Idiot._

 _By Trinisette that guy can hold a grudge. He didn't even spare two innocent children-!_

Snorting, she decided to just delete all his messages –both seen and unseen ones- so that he won't annoy her any more than he already has, only to accidentally click on the open file. Rolling her eyes, she was about to click the back option to shut off the photo-

 _-only to gasp in disbelief._

Because the photo Iemitsu sent showed her the picture of two familiar children – _Wait, weren't they the love-children of Fon, Reborn and Viper?_ Does this mean the one whom Iemitsu was complaining about all this time was actually the one they all speculated to be Reborn's child?

She stared at the photo, speechless. a few minutes later, a small, sadistic smirk bloomed on her lips.

 _'Figures.'_ She thought as she eyed the dark haired boy in the picture and smiled smugly, _'Only Reborn's kid can unknowingly cause so much chaos. Like father, like son.'_

* * *

 **OMAKE -2**

"Reborn-sempai, you're really such a ruthless parent! How can you deny being related to your own child?!"Skull exclaimed haughtily.

"I agree with lackey, kora!" Colonello said in a disapproving tone. "What kind of parent are you to even deny your own son's existence?!"

("Welcome back, Lal." Fon greeted Lal with a smile as she walked into the room.

"I'm back." Lal nodded back at him. She then eyed the argument going on in the meeting room –with the usual violence, gunshots and utter chaos- and asked curiously, "What are they quarreling about now?"

Verde, who had been sitting in a nearby corner answered – _without glancing up from his laptop screen_ , "It's the same old, same old. Reborn is still denying having a love-child with Fon. The others obviously don't believe him, while Viper is just being plainly unhelpful."

Lal glanced at Viper, who hovered above the meeting table as they counted the stack of money in their hands gleefully, and sweat-dropped. "True enough.")

"Oh, for god's sake-!" Reborn gripped his fedora hat tighter with his baby hands and hissed out, "Fon and I _did not_ have any love-child. That boy is _not_ -"

("By the way," Verde paused while typing something on his laptop, and glanced at her. "What did Iemitsu want anyway? Why did he call you in midst of Arcobaleno's annual meeting?"

Lal snorted, "He got his ass kicked by a bunch of kids and was just throwing a temper tantrum. How childish of him. Which reminds me," she patted Fon's back and smirked, "Your kid is amazing, Fon. He chased Iemitsu and Nono out of town with their tails tucked behind them. I swear, your boy has _definitely_ gotten his personality from Reborn."

 _"What."_ Fon deadpanned. "Kyoya did _what_ now-?!")

Reborn – _thanks to his sensitive hearing_ \- of course heard the dialogue between the other three, and immediately changed his words, " _Of course_ he's my son." he said as he puffed his cheeks proudly, "Why would anyone even doubt that?"

Everyone stared at him, speechless.

"He changes his attitude faster than a chameleon." Colonello snorted. "No wonder he has Leon as his partner, kora."

"How shameless of you, Reborn-sempai!" Skull just dissed him along – _earning a kick from the World's Greatest Hitman._

Verde pushed his glasses up and asked, "Weren't you denying your relationship just a moment ago, Reborn?"

Reborn blinked innocently and replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"And now he pleads amnesia." Lal deadpanned.

Fon narrowed his eyes at the fedora wearing baby, "Why did you suddenly agree with this farce?" The others also stared at him suspiciously. Because really, why would Reborn suddenly smile as if he's the most innocent being on Earth – _Ha!_ \- and accept having an affair with Fon and Viper that resulted in love-children?

The Sun Arcobaleno couldn't help but smirk and raise his brow cockily, "Why won't I claim the child who could kick Baka-mitsu's ass -and cause _chaos_ in general- to be my son?"

Colonello grudgingly admitted to Lal, "He has a point, kora." The others agreed.

Fon sighed helplessly as he pinched the bridge of his nose, and mumbled, "I really shouldn't have expected anything else from him."


	13. Nefelibata

**Nefelibata**

 _A cloud walker. An individual who lives in the clouds of her own imagination or dreams. A person who doesn't abide by the rules of society, literature, or art._

* * *

Nagi sighed in exasperation as she watched her brother storm out of the bus as soon as the bus stopped at their destination. It took their teachers a few minutes to collect themselves as they shakily stood up and - _after nervously eying the metallic door of the bus and assuring themselves that the demon child of Namimori will not storm back in to bite them to death_ \- they finally relaxed and started ushering the children out. She nodded to Kyoko in greeting as the cheery girl waved at her and got off the bus along with the others, and then turned her attention to her other friend sulking in the corner.

She stared at the bump on his head and his bruised right eye in amusement and thought that Tsuna was really lucky that Kyoya spared him enough to not use his metallic tonfas on him – _considering how he had been growling darkly in irritation the whole ride as well as emitting a very dark and bloodthirsty aura, it really is a miracle that they arrived at their destination in one piece and without being bitten to death by him_ \- and asked him, "You know now what you've done wrong, right Orange-san?"

The sulking boy moaned in pain, _"I'm sowwy….."_

Chuckling, she patted the bump on his head condescendingly and snickered when he yelped in pain and glared at her. She then dragged the brown haired boy with her and giggled when he whined about her manhandling him. While the teachers were still making sure that none was left behind, Nagi looked around and walked towards Kyoya – _who was leaning against a tree and eying the baby herbivores chattering some distance away from him_ , dragging Tsuna with him –who was _still_ whining about being manhandled.

Nagi poked his cheek and said in a mock scolding tone, "Oh, hush you big baby! If you really have a problem with _my_ way of handling things, why don't _you_ try following Onii-sama then?"

The boy quickly sobered up and gave her a look. "And get bitten for crowding? No thanks." He said dryly.

His comment startled a giggle out of her, which she quickly tried to smother – _and failed_ \- when Kyoya turned to glower at her and Tsuna. Oh, he'd definitely heard their conversation just now and was being a grumpy cat. _How adorable!_

"Onii-sama!" Nagi beamed innocently, as if she hadn't just been laughing at his expense a few seconds ago, and spoke, "Are you feeling better now?"

He shot her a look to tell her how unimpressed he was with her 'innocent child' act, but didn't do anything about it as just grunted in reply ad turned away from them. So, he wasn't that irritated now. Huh. That's good.

Maintaining a shoulder-length distance from Kyoya – _because a little more and he'll **definitely** bite them to death, considering he wasn't feeling so generous being forced to attend a Summer Camp_\- Nagi tried to calm him down even more by excitedly pointing out that maybe it won't be so bad to attend the camp, and the lots of fun activities they'd get to do together, and soon even Tsuna joined in the conversation in excitement. Kyoya's tense shoulders relaxed a bit and soon, he was "Hnn"-ing a while later in reply to which Nagi and Tsuna discreetly high-fived.

A few minutes later, they halted their conversation as their teachers gathered them around.

"Alright!" Suzuki-Sensei – _Kyoya's class teacher_ \- said cheerily, "I know you all must be excited for the camp!" She chuckled along with the other teachers when the students cheered. "But before entering through the gates-" She pointed at the metallic gates behind them, alongside the fence to keep intruders out, and continued on, "I would like to remind you – _once again_ \- to be on your best behavior since other than our school, the children and staff from Namimori North Elementary are also present here. So, don't cause too much trouble for others, okay?" Suzuku-Sensei glanced over the assembled children with a stern eye, only to sweat-drop when she saw how Kyoya shrugged off her words with a scoff. She had a feeling that warning this group of children – _especially Kyoya and his little rag-tag bunch of misfits_ \- was a wasted effort, since she knew for a fact that trouble follows the demon child like a lost puppy – _or maybe it's just that young Sawada child who brings chaos everywhere with him with a mischievous smile and cute giggle at a time_.

After getting affirmative responses from most children, Suzuki-sensei gave her students a bright smile and clapped her hands excitedly, "Now that we've gone over that, let's get going then! Follow me!" The children cheered and walked behind Suzuki-Sensei like little ducklings as she led them through the gates, while the other teachers followed them, making sure that no child gets left behind.

Kyoya scowled as resisted the urge to _discipline_ this crowd of loitering baby herbivores. Honestly, don't they have any fucking common sense? Why would they crowd around and make things difficult for everyone, instead of walking quietly in a line in a proper way? _Tch, herbivores…_

Nagi sighed as she walked along-side Tsuna and she stared bemused at her brother and said, "There he goes again, mentally contemplating mass genocide and scaring herbivores with that bloodthirsty smirk on his face."

"I think he looks pretty cute like that." Tsuna mused absent-mindedly as he quirked his lips up in a smile.

Nagi stared at him incredulously. "Oh my god, you're _insane_." She groaned. "If I stay here any longer, I'd be infected by your madness."

Tsuna blinked and asked, bewildered, "What are you-?"

"Oh, I think the Kyoko-chan is calling me!" Nagi interrupted him mid-sentence and exclaimed a bit too obviously, "See you later, Orange-san. You stay here and keep my brother company while I try to find some semblance of sanity- _Er_ , I mean find Kyoko-chan. Yeah, right." saying this, she rushed away towards the crowd as if Tsuna had set Kyoya lose on her tail.

Tsuna huffed. "Mist-chan is so weird." he complained under his breath, but the mischievous glint in his eyes as well as the orange fire blazing inside him as if it were cackling in glee said otherwise.

 _'It's honestly so **easy** to mess with them.'_ Tsuna thought fondly as he shook his head and walked next to Kyoya – _keeping some distance between them, of course, he didn't want to be bitten to death, Thank you very much_ \- to the very back of the crowd.

His orange fire just curled inside him warmly- as if agreeing with him.

* * *

The children followed Suuki-Sensei and the other teachers as they led them through the lush green garden that appeared before their eyes as soon as the gates had been opened. There were a few kids around the garden - _who had been playing around until they walked in_ \- and were now watching them curiously as they neared the main building standing in the smack-dab at the center of the garden. The children chattered excitedly, 'ooh'-ing and 'ah'-ing at everything they saw.

A man in late thirties greeted Suzuki-Sensei with a smile and after a hushed discussion with her and the other teachers; he turned towards the children and smiled warmly at the little children gathered before him.

"Hello everyone! My name is Hikaru Nayuki, a teacher from Namimori North Elementary School, and I would like to thank you all for participating in this joint Summer Camp organized by our schools." Nayuki-Sensei said kindly, "I –along with Suzuki-Sensei here-" he gestured towards the bubbly brunette next to him, and continued on, "will oversee all your activities." he then turned towards them and said, "As you've been informed earlier, the Summer Camp will last for five days, and there are many kinds of activities you can participate in –as individuals or in groups, _it depends upon the rules of that activity dictates, of course_. Usually, we'd start the very first day by assigning everyone into groups, but this time we've decided that we'd let _you_ guys to form your own groups by yourselves." there were several protests from some kids, which were overruled by Nayuki-Sensei as he spoke his next words, "No excuses, everyone. This is to ensure that you interact with other kids – _it doesn't matter if they're from your school or not_ \- and socialize with them." Many of the kids pouted petulantly, making Nayuki-Sensei chuckle at them. "Alright, so you have to form a group of six people. You can register the members of your group with ether Suzuki-Sensei or me by dinner time." He then paused and warned them, "You'll have to live with your chosen group for these five days and participate with them, so be careful while choosing your group." he gave them a stern look and said, "Remember that your group here is your _team_ , your _family_ , so choose wisely, everyone."

The kids chattered excitedly at his words. Kyoya himself contemplated his words.

"Family, huh…?"He mumbled under his breath. "Sounds interesting."

"We're gonna make a great team, Orange-san!" Nagi giggled as she shared a fist-bump with Tsuna.

"Yeah! You, I, and Cloud-san will make an amazing team!" Tsuna beamed.

Kyoya snorted and said, "Who said I would join _your_ team."

"Oh?" Tsuna snorted and pointed at the crowd of children chattering at a speed of a mile-per-hour and asked, "If not us, then do you want to join those herbivores – _was it_ , Cloud-san?"

Kyoya eyed the snot-nosed brats giggling and babbling as if they were high on sugar, and shuddered. "Fair 'nough." he mumbled with a scowl, making his two companions chuckle.

"He's _so_ predictable." Nagi whispered to Tsuna in a conspiratory tone.

"He is, isn't he?" Tsuna agreed whole-heartedly with her.

Suzuki-Sensei clapped her hands to grab their attention, and once they quietened down, she spoke, "Now that we're done here, let's go to the cafeteria for lunch. I don't know about you guys, but I'm _definitely_ famished." She swooned in an exaggerated manner, making the kids giggle at her antics.

Nayuki-Sensei smiled at them and said, "Come on then, I'll show you around."

* * *

If Kyoya had been furious earlier because of the way the baby herbivores had been crowding around in the bus, then right now he was _downright pissed_. Because turns out, the number of baby herbivores had just doubled. The cafeteria was filled with chatter and rambunctious laughter of kids from _both_ Schools, which means there were _twice_ the number of kids than before. It had taken a combined effort of Tsuna and Nagi both to drag Kyoya away from the crowd before he could conjure his tonfas and start biting them to death. It took another five minutes to calm him down enough – _thank goodness there was Hamburg steak as one of dishes for lunch that made placating him easier, or else everyone would've had to deal with a very unsettled Cloud_ – and in the end the two of them decided that leaving Kyoya alone right now would be disastrous for everyone, and so Nagi was on Kyoya-watch (and yes, it is a legal word -for them, at least.) while Tsuna got their lunches.

The three of them ate their lunches in silence, and stared around contemplatively. The other kids have already started socializing and discussing their groups. However, no one dared to come near the three of them, considering how Kyoya's schoolmates were already warning the kids from the other school about his antics – _it also didn't help that Kyoya was still glowering at any kid who'd dare to even glance their way, making them flinch and squeal in terror_.

Tsuna sighed. "At this rate we'll never get enough members for our group in time." He complained and tugged his brown locks in frustration.

"We need six people to form a group, right?" Nagi mused. "There's three of us, and if we ask Kyoko-chan and Hana-chan, that'll make us five. We'll need to get one more person then."

Tsuna beamed at her. "That's a great idea!" He then turned around to ask Kyoya what he thought about this, only to sweat drop when he found the Hibari child leaning against the chair and yawning lazily, as if preparing for a nap. Shaking his head, he turned to Nagi and made a shooing motion and said, "You go get Sasagawa-san and Kurokawa-san then, Mist-chan!"

"Alright then." Nagi nodded and grabbed her now empty plastic bowl and dumped them in dustbin and went off to look for Kyoko and Hana.

Meanwhile, Tsuna looked around the cafeteria, wondering who he should ask to be a member of their group, and blinked his eyes in surprise when he saw a familiar face among the kids.

 _Wait, isn't that-_

He was interrupted in his musings by Nagi and Kyoko as they stepped before him, hindering his vision of that person. Tsuna blinked and stared up at his friend as she patted Kyoko's shoulder and beamed at them. "Kyoko-chan agreed to join our group."

"That's great!" Tsuna exclaimed and then looked around her, only to be confused when he did not find the snarky ravenette – _who usually followed the younger Sasagawa girl like a lost puppy_ \- anywhere around them. "Where's Kurokawa-san?"

Kyoko froze – _and was it his imagination or did she actually wince?_ \- but soon smiled at them – _her smile never reached her eyes_ \- as she spoke, "Hana-chan didn't come to Summer Camp."

"Ah, that's too bad." Tsuna slumped, depressed. Now they need to find two members for their group. _Just great._

Kyoko and Nagi pulled two chairs and sat on them.

"We need two more people in our group." Nagi said with a sigh. "I tried asking around, but no one wanted to join our team." Nagi pointedly stared at her brother, making Tsuna understand who was the actual culprit because of whom no one wanted to join their team, and sweat-dropped.

Tsuna opened his mouth to speak, but paused when his eyes fell on the same familiar person from before in the crowd. "I'll be back." Tsuna said urgently as he tracked the other person with his eyes as he glided around the crowd, socializing with others and smiling a fake smile at his 'friends'.

"Rain-san!" Tsuna beamed as soon as he reached the other boy, making the other freeze and snap his head towards him, and stare at him with a gaping mouth and wide eyes. "I knew it, it really _is_ you!"

The boy's smile turned a bit more genuine at the sight of the brunette. "Ah, you're Tsuna-right?"

Tsuna's smile turned even wider at his words and he nodded. "Yup!"

"Hey Yamamoto, you know him?" A boy next to the dark skinned boy asked.

Yamamoto Takeshi scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Yeah, sort of."

Another boy rolled his eyes and nudged him. "How can you _'sort-of'_ -" he air quoted the last two words, "know someone?"

Takeshi stiffened a bit and is eyes dimmed somewhat, but he tried to shrug it off as he joked, "I just do."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as his orange fire bristled inside him.

(He _really_ didn't like it when Rain-san faked a smile.)

Shaking his head, he stared at Takeshi imploringly and insisted, "Ne, Rain-san, would you like to join my group?"

Takeshi was caught off by his words. "Ah- what?" 

Before he could even say more, Takeshi was cut off by his friend, who scowled and exclaimed, "Hey, Yamamoto is going to join our group!"

"Yeah!" the other boy standing by his side said.

Tsuna glanced at them for a moment, and then turned back to look at Takeshi and tilted his head and asked with his eyes flashing orange, "Is that so?" 

Something inside Takeshi squeezed in panic, and he wanted to clarify that _No_ , _he hadn't agreed to them-_

-but once again, he was interrupted by his 'friends'. "Yes, this is how it is!" The boy hissed, annoyed at Tsuna's question.

Tsuna gave him a sharp look, and the boy froze at the brunette's glimmering orange eyes glaring at him, and said, "I didn't ask _you_." He then turned to Takeshi, the smoldering orange softened to a warm amber as he smiled kindly and asked, "Rain-san, have you already joined any other group? If you haven't, would you mind joining ours, then?"

"Why are you asking me?" Takeshi blurted out, his brown eyes flashing blue for a second and something inside him squirmed uncomfortably. He – _for some reason_ -was fearful of his answer. _Why though….?_ He had no idea.

(The Rain flames that had been sleeping for so long deep inside him, stirred in agitation. They had finally found a Sky worthy of them…

 _Would this Sky embrace them even with all their faults, or would it reject them?_

They didn't know…)

Tsuna contemplated his question as he tilted his head. _Hmm…. why indeed._

Well, the answer was quite obvious, wasn't it?

His eyes flashed orange for a bit as he chirped, "Because you're my friend, of course. Why else would I ask you?"

A brilliant smile broke out on Takeshi's lips as he laughed and shrugged off his so-called 'friends' and patted Tsuna's back. "Hahaha, you're so interesting, Tsuna! Sure, I'll join you!" He wrapped an arm around Tsuna's shoulder and led them away from the others, ignoring their calls as they complained about him leaving them without any warning. "So," he asked nonchalantly, "Who else is in our team?"

"Ah, no one special," Tsuna smirked mischievously as he said with a dramatic pause, "Just a Demon, a Trickster and a pretty fairy- excluding me, of course."

Takeshi gave him an amused look and chuckled, "Sounds, interesting, Tsuna."

* * *

By the time Tsuna came back with his newest friend, Kyoya had almost dozed off.

"Hey guys! I found another member for our team!" Tsuna's voice snapped Kyoya out of his nap, making him scowl. He disinterestedly opened a lone eye to look over whichever baby herbivore his baby Sky has brought to them, only to double back with eyes wide open and mouth hanging open at the sight of the slightly taller brunette standing next to his baby-Sky.

 _Oh, for Trinisette's sake, where the fuck did his baby Sky find the Rain herbivore?_

"Hi! Nice to meet you all!" An eight year old Yamamoto Takeshi grinned as he waved at the three people sitting around the dining table. "My name is Yamamoto Takeshi!"

"Hello, I am Sasagawa Kyoko." Kyoko beamed at him.

Nagi smiled at him and pointed to herself. "Hibari Nagi." She then bowed to him and said, "Thank you for joining our team, Yamamoto-san."

Takeshi waved her off. "You can call me by my name, you know, Nagi-chan."

Nagi couldn't help but brighten at his smile and cheerful attitude and hummed contemplatively as she listened to the whispers of her indigo fire inside her and asked, "I think ' _Blue-san'_ would suit you even better." She smiled at him kindly – _her eyes flashing with warmth and understanding_ \- as she spoke, "A nice nickname for a nice friend."

Takeshi's smile turned even more genuine at her words, "Thanks!"

He then turned towards the only person among them who hadn't introduced himself, and blinked when he found himself staring at a grey eyed boy who was gaping at him. Tsuna pouted and whined, "Cloud-san! You haven't introduced yourself to our newest friend yet! That's rude, you know!"

Kyoya immediately snapped out of his trance and regained his aloof attitude as he eyed Takeshi from the corner of his eyes and replied reluctantly, "….Hibari Kyoya."

Takeshi blinked and then once again glanced at the three other members of Tsuna's team, and laughed. "Wow Tsuna, you were right. They're really interesting!"

Tsuna beamed. "I know, right?"

Nagi clapped her hands, gaining their attention. "Including Blue-san, there are five of us now. We need one more person to complete our group."

"Let's work hard, everyone!" Kyoko said, cheerily, to which the other three replied-

"Yeah!"

"You'll help us too, right, Onii-sama?" Nagi asked and turned to face Kyoya, only stare flabbergasted at Kyoya's empty seat. "Wait, where did he go?"

* * *

(A few hours later…..)

Kyoya yawned and blinked his eyes and lazily watched the sun setting behind the Namimori hills, and shifted to lie comfortably on the branch he had been resting on. It has been a few hours since he left his baby Sky and baby Mist with _his_ (former) Sun's younger sister as well as his baby Rain (and hasn't that been a curve ball he hadn't expected life – _more like his baby Sky_ \- to throw at him out of nowhere. But he should've expected that. He _really_ should.

Because _of course_ his Rain would walk into their lives once again grinning like a cheerful, oblivious fool, annoying the heck out of them. For all the differences between their Rain and that Spartan-tutor-from-hell that is the Sun Arcobaleno, there were still somethings that they had in common. Like how they were both the best Hitmen the mafia has to offer, and how they _thrived_ in **_chaos_**.

 _Like teacher, like student._ )

He had found a sturdy tree at a corner of the garden and had decided to take a nap there –because honestly, he had been getting quite annoyed with the loud chattering herbivores that had been crowding in the cafeteria. Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that staying there meant spending time with Yamamoto, and he wasn't ready yet. _Of course not_.

(Because staring at this young Rain of his as he hid his _miserysadnessdespairpainpainpAINPAIN-!_ inside that tiny body of his made his flames rattle inside him in anger. _This_ Yamamoto Takeshi was still young, still grieving, still so _fragile_ -

-and he hated that he could do nothing to ease his pain. Because Kyoya could do many things –but emotions were not one of them. Tell him to defeat an army of elites all alone, and he'd _thrive_ as he fights them, but to ask him to deal with a grieving child – _well, he'd sooner kiss Pineapple Carnivore than do that –and yup, that's **never** happening in a fucking million years._

He hated that he couldn't solve his Rain's problems by beating his enemy to death – _because what was hurting Takeshi was not anyone else, but himself_. _His_ Rain had once confided to them when drunk about how his mother had died when he was seven, and ever since then he buried his grief deep down inside him and took to baseball – _her favorite sport_ -to honor her memory- _with a smile on his face_. He pushed, and pushed past his sadness and grief for years, until one day, he couldn't suppress it anymore. 

All it took was a broken arm to break him and push him over the edge and making him commit suicide.

If his Sky hadn't reached out to him, then their Rain might've perished under the weight of his own turbulent emotions.

This Yamamoto Takeshi, though, hasn't gone off the far end yet. He has just started walking on the path of self-destruction his older-self had walked on, and he could still be brought back to the right path. All he needed was a spark.

And Kyoya knew that _he_ wasn't that spark. The only one who could let the turbulent Rain turn calm again is the Sky.

….Though that didn't mean Kyoya wouldn't try. Because of course he would.

 _After all, what are friends for?_ )

"Oh look, it's the weirdo again."

"Ugh, why is she still following us?"

Kyoya grunted in annoyance as he was once again snapped out of his nap, and sleepily glanced down the very tree he was napping on to threaten at the herbivores who dared to interrupt his sleep, only to blink once-twice at the curious image his eyes made him see.

Because standing under his tree were two girls scowling at their companion, who was dressed quit _peculiarly_.

"A-Ano, Ami-chan, Satsuki-chan, please let me join your group!" the _creature_ exclaimed. Because what else could it be? It was big, round, _and_ yellow.

….No, he's not talking about Hibird. He isn't delusional, you know.

The girl – _Ami_ \- with her long hair in a braid rolled her eyes and said, "Our Group is full. There's no place for you."

"But Ami-chan-"

"Even if we needed another person in our group, we'd never ask _you_ to join us, you weirdo!" the other girl with a pink headband –who must be Satsuki- scowled at her.

The big, round, yellow person's voice quivered as they spoke, "Y-You don't have to be so rude, you know."

Kyoya narrowed his eyes as he shifted a bit to stare at the yellow _thing_ and wondered what it could be. The yellow person shifted a bit, and Kyoya stared, flabbergasted, at what he had thought some eighth wonder of the world turned out to be a cosplay dress. Of a Psyduck – _of all the fucking things in this world._

 _…What._

Ami pursued her lips, and shot Satsuki a stern look when the other was about to retort a scathing remark, making her shut up. She then nodded and bowed to the other person and said, "I apologize for my friend's rudeness. We hadn't meant to hurt your feelings." She didn't look that apologetic, though. "But you should really find some other team before dinnertime –and there's only an hour left for it. Why are you pestering us when you can just look for some other group who hasn't assembled all their members yet, Miura-san?" 

Kyoya blinked. _Miura-san?_

 _…..That actually, explains a lot._

Kyoya then jumped down the tree, and landed just behind the Psyduck cosplayer, making the two girls – _Ami and Satsuki_ \- scream in terror as they ran off. The Psyduck jumped and whirled around to face him, and Kyoya had to raise an eyebrow and resisted the urge to whistle appreciatively, because _damn_ the girl's costume was perfect to a T – _only her face was visible from the confused Duck Pokemon's large yellow beak_ \- and she made a great Psyduck.

"Hahi!" the girl exclaimed as she jumped, startled, "Did you just jump down the tree all of a sudden? What kind of idiot would do that?"

Kyoya smirked, making the girl scoot away from him warily. _"You,"_ he said as he pointed at the cosplayer girl and said, "are coming with me."

Saying this, he grabbed the girl by the back of the neck of her costume and ignored the way she flailed around in panic and screamed hilariously ridiculous things.

"Hahi! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED BY A VAMPIRE! SOMEONE, SAVE ME!"

Kyoya resisted the urge to smash a tonfa on her head. Because honestly, _what was she thinking?_

"How am _I_ a Vampire?" He asked out loud in annoyance as he made his way towards his baby Sky.

The girls paused in her screaming, and gave him a side-way unimpressed glance. "Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror? You're pale enough to pass for a Vampire."

The corner of his lips twitched upwards, but he smothered it down back again.

 _'So she was still an idiot in her younger days, I see.'_

"According to myths, Vampires can't come out in sunlight. The sun is still out yet." Kyoya stared pointedly at the setting sun.

"So you must be a Cold One then." Miura Haru declared as she hovered a few inches from the ground –courtesy of Kyoya. "Like Edward Cullen." Her eyes then sparkled as she stared at him and exclaimed. "Do you sparkle in sunlight too? Do you? Really? Tell me!"

A vein throbbed over his forehead and Kyoya violently suppressed the urge to violently _bite her to death._

And he had thought Haru's older counterpart was more annoying. _Clearly, he was wrong._

This one is even _crazier_ than her older counterpart.

(No wonder she fit amazingly well with Decimo and his crazy Guardians and the chaos and utter madness that followed them on a regular basis. 

Because after all, it takes one to know one.) 

* * *

**EXTRA -**

Tsuna moaned, "Suzuki-Sensei is going to kill us." He slammed his head against a tree trunk and sulked, "It has been hours since lunch and we still haven't managed to find one more teammate. Worse, Cloud-san is still god-knows-where!"

Takeshi grinned and patted his back consolingly, "Ah, I'm sure it'll turn out fine, Tsuna!"

Nagi nodded, "Yeah, besides, if Suzuki-Sensei gets angry, we can always push Onii-sama before her."

Tsuna gave her a flat look. "How will that solve any problem? He'll just bite her to death in annoyance!"

Nagi stared at him, amused, "That's why I said to push him forward!"

Tsuna groaned. " _Why_ am I surrounded by idiots?!" He whined.

Kyoko giggled and shared an amused look with Takeshi and Nagi. "Tsuna-kun is so funny!"

"He is, isn't he?" Takeshi agreed with a grin, while Nagi just nodded with her eyes twinkling with mischief.

SLAM!

"Ow! that hurts, you jerk!"

The four of them turned towards the source of the noise, only to stare in disbelief at the scene before their eyes. Kyoya was standing before them with a scowl on his face, and glared at the figure he had dropped down on the ground quite harshly.

The figure who had been unceremoniously been dropped down on the ground without any warning just scowled and rubbed their butt as they glared back at the grey eyed boy, who just rolled his eyes at her antics.

"There's a Psyduck on the ground." Nagi said blankly. " _Why_ is there a Psyduck on the ground?" 

"Am I dreaming?" Takeshi mumbled as he pinched his own arm –and winced. "Haha, nope. It's real."

Kyoko's eyes sparkled brightly and she clapped her hand excitedly, and exclaimed, "Oh, what a cute Psyduck-chan!"

Tsuna first stared at the Psyduck, and then at Kyoya, and then back at the cosplayer and then at the older Hibari child. "Ne, Cloud-san," Tsuna asked slowly, "Who is this?"

Kyoya gave him a baleful look. "The last member of our group."

"Really?!" the other three exclaimed –with equal amount of skeptics, surprise, and delight in their voices.

"Hahi?" the girl cosplaying as Psyduck was startled by his words. "You never told me that! Heck, you didn't even ask my permission!" She stared at Kyoya accusingly.

Kyoya waved off her concerns dismissingly. "Details, details."

"Hey!"

Tsuna sighed and rolled his eyes fondly as he saw Kyoya's smug grin and his other three friend's varying expressions. What actually cemented his decision was the cosplaying girl's annoyed pout – _though her eyes flashed with uneasiness and barely repressed hope_ , and he knew his next words would change their life forever.

He extended his hand out towards the cosplaying girl, making her jump at the sudden motion, as he smiled brightly and asked, "Would you like to join our team, Psyduck-chan?"

* * *

 ** _EXTRA- 2_**

 **the Skylark's ever loyal companion, Pt. 2**

 _Tweet~ tweet~_

He puffed his feathers and turned away from the new hatchings - _his youngest siblings_ -as they tried to approach him with adorably pitiful expressions on their birdy faces. He wasn't like his human –like hell he'd melt at the sight of small animals like that. He himself was aware the power of doom –that consists of adorable pitiful expressions and teary eyes and cuddles –since these were the very tactics he used on his human to gain his attention. Like hell these few weeks old hatchlings can make him warm up to them with half-assed attempts at acting cute.

Shooting them a stinky eyed look, he hopped away from his flock –( _not_ family, they will _never_ be his **_family_**. His family will only be his human and his fellow – _pack? flock? eh, whatever_ \- consisting of the omnivore with the fluffiest hair –that makes the best napping place in the world- who only patted him when he perched on his head; of the foul-mouthed silver haired human who always bristled like a cat whenever he saw him resting on his _precious Jyuudaime's_ head, but would still leave his feed in his bird bowl; of the ever smiling herbivore with the sword who's always waved in greeting whenever he flew by him; of the loud "EXTREME" herbivore who'd give him shots and check on him when he's ill; of the young cow –who in his eyes is nothing more than a chick- who'd always share sweets with him – _after raiding the brown haired herbivore's secret stashes, that is_ ; of the pineapple carnivore who'd try to mockingly play "shoot the bird" with him until his human would descend on him and attack him like a bloodthirsty skylark – _Ha!_ \- while the other pineapple female would shake her head in background and pat his head fondly.

These hatchlings, who haven't even seen the world, will never be his family. Never.) all the while ignoring the sad glances the elder bird – _his Mother_ \- shot him. The female had been hoping that he'd mellow out and warm up to them after his fellow siblings hatched from their eggs, and would take responsibility as the eldest of the bunch. She was obviously wrong. He didn't have any attachment to them.

(He still remembered how they had abandoned him and flew themselves off as soon as the hunters came, leaving him at the mercy of those humans who sold him to a pet shop, and was shoved in a _cage_ with others like him. And then a few months later, he and his kin and been bought by the old man who called himself 'Birds', and trained them in the art of infiltration, reconssiance, and murder. he remembered the many sleepless nights he spent hungry – _whenever he made any mistake in training_ \- or the harsh punishments that followed – _getting their feathers plucked out, having their wings pinned with a sharp needle, forcibly opening his beak a bit too wide_ \- he thought he'd spend the rest of his life just like this-

-and then he met his human. His everything.

And he had never been happier.)

Hopping to the edge of the nest, he disdainfully eyed the drop and cursed the fact that this nest was quite high above the ground, and if he tried to directly fly with his under-developed feathers and un-used wings, he'd definitely die. And he didn't wish to die so soon. He still has to meet his human, after all.

So settling himself at the edge of the nest –and away from the flock of five that shot him strange looks every now and then- he opened his beak and sang him in nostalgia the very first words his human taught him-

 _"midori tanabiku namimori no_ _  
dai naku shou naku nami ga ii  
itsumo kawaranu sukoyaka kenage  
aa... tomo ni utaou namimori chuu~"_

* * *

 **OMAKE- 1**

 _Ding!_

Viper curiously glanced at their phone, and mulled over the information presented to them. they've been asked to incite the Arcobaleno to give Sawada Iemitsu a (not-so-)nice, (un)friendly visit. the money has already been transferred into their account, and the amount is quite satisfactory too.

 _Hmm… too easy._

Viper glanced at the Arcobaleno lounging in the hall, and decided to get this thing done with.

"Muu," Viper cleared their throat, making others turn to them, and said, "Lal, you said the kids chased Nono and Iemitsu out of the town. Forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

Lal frowned, and asked, annoyed. "I'm only telling you what Iemitsu told me."

Viper rolled their eyes – _not that anyone could see that, thanks to the hoodie hiding their face_ \- and said, "Well, Yuna-" Viper pointedly stared at Fon, "-thinks otherwise. She believes it was _Iemitsu_ who bullied the little children and scared them."

"Is that so?" Fon pondered over their words, finding it hard to believe. Because it's Kyoya who bullies others, not the other way around, period. "Wait a minute, let me call her and confirm if it's true or not." Saying this he walked out to call his sister.

By the time he returned, he couldn't help but stare speechlessly at the now – _almost_ \- empty room.

Fon stared at Viper in disbelief and asked, "I wasn't even on the call for two minutes, and they actually disappeared? Where did they go?"

Viper said flatly, "You know the rules- no money, no information."

Fon stared at them, unimpressed, "Are you going to extort me for even such a small thing? Don't you have _any_ shame?"

Viper retorted back without any shame, "What's that? Can shame buy you anything in the world?"

"…"

"Thought so."

* * *

 **CEDEF's Headquarters**

 **Venice, Italy**

Iemitsu shrunk in his seat as he stared fearfully at five of the World's Strongest Seven Babies lounging in his room, glaring at him threateningly. Colonello and Lal stood on either side of him, holding their sniper rifles threateningly and glowering at him at the same time; Skull sat on the corner of his desk – _for once foregoing his helmet_ \- as he puffed his cheeks and glared haughtily at him; Verde sat over the window sill, holding a strange remote that obviously controlled the _surprisingly_ fierce looking robot by his side; and the worst thing was that Reborn –the greatest hitman in the World- stood before him on his desk, cocking his leon gun and smirking sadistically at him.

The Arcobaleno had all surrounded him, cutting of his escape routes with their positions.

Iemitsu gulped fearfully.

He didn't understand. Why were they here? _Weren't they supposed to be in a Meeting, though…..?_

He didn't remember doing anything that'd piss them off! So why would they be here?

Reborn seemed to have read his mind as he smirked and tilted his fedora ominously. He pointed leon-gun at Iemitsu, and _purred_ dangerously, "Sawada Iemitsu," He tilted his head to the side and said, " _let's chat about life,_ shall we?"


	14. INTERLUDE- Haru

Miura Haru was a lonely girl. Her Dad has brought her up with the best of his abilities, but sometimes, he just _wasn't there_ , too busy with his job, he had never noticed how he was neglecting his own toddler daughter, and more often than not toddler!Haru would be left with the old lady next door who owned the Kawahira realtor's shop – _or so she had said once, not that Haru had understood a bit of what she had said._

Ever since she was young, she had watched how other children have a Mom and a Dad, which made her confused and jealous because she didn't have a Mom – _and why didn't she have a Mom? Did her Mom not want her? Did she do anything wrong?_

She didn't ask her Dad -because the last time she did, he looked so, _so_ sad and heartbroken that something inside her clenched painfully and after that particular episode she never asked him about her again. She only knew that her mother died during childbirth, an nothing else. She didn't know what she looked like, or if she had wanted Haru or not, or if she had loved her for the nine months she had kept her in her belly. Hell, she didn't even know what her mother's name was! But even if she was curious and desperate to know about her belated mother, she never dared to ask her Dad about her in fear that he would close off from her.

And so, Haru would watch other children with envy as their parents dote on them from the corner as they lived their happy lives, taking everything she could never have for granted. Sometimes, she would despair about why other children can have nice things –a happy family, while she drowns in her loneliness with just the old woman from the next door to watch over her. It just wasn't fair!

But years after years of tormenting herself with loneliness, she has finally learned her lesson that envying others won't do her any good. It would only hurt her even more, and make her bitter. And Haru didn't want to be bitter.

So what if she can't have what they have? She'll find her happiness with her own effort. And so, Haru began to hide her loneliness and envy behind bright eyes and oblivious smiles. She didn't want her Dad to worry about her even more than he usually did, so she started putting up a mask of cheerfulness.

…Until she didn't even know anymore what was the mask and what was the real her.

~O~

Haru liked reading. She liked to spend her time in the library reading books –especially fictions and novels. She loved reading about the fragile Princess who might've a weak body, but had a strong sense of character; about the heroine who was bullied by her hateful relatives, but even then she broke away from their claws and succeeded in life; about the cross-dressing protagonist who had been chosen by the Holy sword as the champion who'll slay the dragon, and even after facing with everyone's contempt and mockery of being of weak gender, she proved her worth and faced the dragon head on; about "Alice" who explored a fantastical world and experienced such great adventures….. The words in the books were so well written that she would often lose herself in the imaginative world of the story, and when the story ended, she'd often be satisfied, but disappointed because she wanted it to continue longer.

Sometimes, she fancied herself as one of those protagonists – _finding friends, facing dangers, having crazy adventures_ \- and wished she had friends like that – _friends who'd be loyal enough to stand for her when she needed them, but crazy enough to tease her about silliest of things_. She wanted a friendship like that.

But reality was always cruel.

Her fellow classmates didn't like her, at all. They thought she was weird – _overly cheerful and airheaded_. They didn't understand her obsession with cosplaying. They didn't understand why she would rather stay in her imaginative castles than face reality. They didn't understand why she would cosplay as a knight and would fancy herself as one of the Knights of the Leftover Princess than to spend her time chatting with others about _normal_ things.

And since they cannot understand her, they made fun of her, and made her miserable. After all, that is what most children her age thought about. This is how the world works. This is how _Namimori_ works.

Signing up for the Summer Camp had been an impulsive decision on her part. From the day she had joined North elementary School, she had always admired the 'Class Princess'- Ami. Among the snot-nosed brats who would start bawling if they scratch their feet and had 'boo- boos', she was the only one who's dust off her skirt and just walk over the teacher to ask for Band-Aid if she got a light injury. She was always calm and collected and looked at everyone coolly, and Haru really admired her for it. She hadn't realized till then that what she thought was 'cool' was actually just the other girl's arrogance and disdain.

Ami was always surrounded by many kids –especially girls- whenever she was in the class, so Haru never actually got a chance to approach her. Hearing that she was going to the Summer Camp, Haru decided to join too, thinking that maybe she'd get the opportunity to approach her. And so, Haru came all the way here in hopes of making new friends and finally getting rid of the loneliness that seemed to plague her ever since she was young.

But her hopes shattered when Ami and her friend – _Satsuki_ \- rejected her friendship with cruel words. She didn't back away, and tried again and asked if she could join their team, only to be shunned by them. Haru hadn't thought she could get hurt even more than she already was – _but apparently, she was wrong._ Words really did hurt more than any flesh wounds.

 _Maybe she was cursed to be alone for her whole life. Maybe she really didn't deserve to have friends –wonderful, wonderful friends who'd stay with her through thick and thin…_

-And as if to prove her wrong, one Hibari Kyoya dropped down from the Sky before her like an angel – _or a Vampire as she had claimed him to be_ \- and held out his hand and declared the words that changed her life forever-

" _You_ are coming with me."

* * *

 **A/N:-….My God this is short. This is a one time thing. I swear i won't do it again. The next one will be longer I swear -and yes, i'm talking about both the Interlude and the chapter. Just... forgive me this once, please?**

 **I'll even toss out an OMAKE for you. here~**

* * *

 **OMAKE-**

"So, I had been wondering…" Colonello mused, only to be interrupted by Verde's comment.

"Please don't." Verde deadpanned. "Your thinking is hazardous for our health."

"HEY!" Colonello exclaimed, offended.

"Well, _I_ want to hear what he has to say." Lal quipped with a smirk. "My idiot pupil sometimes says _ridiculously_ hilarious things."

Verde paused as he contemplated her words, and then shrugged. "Can't argue with that." he admitted in the end.

Colonello huffed. "So, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by _someone_ ," He glared pointedly at Verde, who just snorted and pushed up his glasses in a dismissive manner that only made Colonello bristle even more.

Lal got fed up with his antics, and impatiently threw a random antique vase lying by her side at her stupid pupil – _making Viper bemoan at the damage and the money it'd cost and how they'd charge it into her account at "25 percent extra interest rate"_ ( _that Damn extortionist…._ )- as she snapped, "Get on with it!"

Colonello dodged the vase quite easily, and ignored the SMASH! sound it made against the wall as it shattered into pieces. Knowing better than to complain at his instructor-slash-love-interest's random acts of violence by now, he just rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, you know little Kyoya and Nagi –our resident Sun, Storm and Mist Arcobaleno's love-children, right?"

The others shared a look, wondering, where he was going with this, and nodded skeptically.

Colonello cleared his throat and said, "So, I had been wondering….. among the three of them, who is the kids's Dad? I mean, Viper can definitely pass off as the indigo girl's Mom –because what else would they be?-"

A sound akin to the combination of an outraged hiss and a choked wheeze came from the back of Viper's throat as they spoke, "Why am I the Mom? Why can't I be the Dad?"

The others shot them an incredulous look. Even _Skull_ stared at them, unimpressed, "Ne, Viper, tell us truthfully- between Reborn, Fon and you, who looks the most feminine and has the most chances of passing off as the one from fairer sex?"

Viper opened their mouth to argue, but shut it close when they realized that the lackey was, in fact, right. "….Fair enough." they grudgingly admitted.

"Well, that leaves Reborn and Fon then." Lal said as she contemplatively eyed the said cursed babies- the former of whom was stroking his pet chameleon while the latter's serene smile just froze on his face- _and is it her imagination or was that his vein throbbing at the side of his forehead in irritation?_

"Of course, _I_ 'm the Dad." Reborn said in a matter of fact tone.

"Ah, I don't know….. I think Fon's manlier than Reborn-sempai." Skull admitted, which earned him a bullet from Reborn's Leon-gun.

"Well, well, the lackey spoke the truth." Verde said with a smirk. "Fon's definitely the manliest one among the three of them."

"So," Lal's eyes glinting with mischief as she watched Fon's twitching form and Reborn's irritated one, as she asked, "All in the favor of agreeing with Fon as the 'Man' in the relationship, say "Aye"!"

"Aye!" Colonello, Verde, Skull and even Viper –though a bit reluctantly, exclaimed in unison.

Lal gleefully slammed a mist-constructed hammer on the table and said in a mock-sage tone, "And so, the motion has been passed."

Fon _calmly_ placed cup of tea in his hands on the table and asked with a _very_ serene smile on his face that obviously showed how calm he was about this –if one would ignore his twitching fingers and the vein throbbing over his forehead, that is- and asked, "Remind me, _why_ are you all so keen on discussing my – _non-existent_ \- relationship with Reborn and Viper and the children I _supposedly_ had with them?"

"Because Arcobaleno are adults cursed to stay in infant bodies because of which they have no way to let out their sexual desires, and in desperation have turned to the only solution they could find- aka gossiping like old women of neighborhood." Reborn deadpanned.

"That makes _so_ much sense. Though," Fon said as he eyed Reborn, " _why_ didn't _you_ include yourself in the list of those who 'divert-their-sexual-frustration-by-gossiping'?"

Reborn smirked as he tipped his fedora hat and stated proudly, "Well, I use all that energy to cause chaos, so I'm not as sexually repressed as them."

"It really says so much about my sanity – _or it's lack there-of_ \- when I fully admit that what you said makes sense." Fon couldn't help but deadpan.

* * *

 **A/N:-**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **And if you think I'm done yet, then I'm not. I won't live up to my reputation -whatever's left of it anyways- if I don't drop a bomb right before I disappear for the next few weeks, right?**

* * *

 **EXTRA-**

The silver eyelashes trembled as the person broke out into cold sweat, unconsciously clenching the blankets draped over him tighter with his fists. A moment later, his eyes flashed open, and he sat up straight as he exhaled slowly. He blinked once, twice, and adjusted his purple eyes to the dim light of his room. Soon, a smirk made it's way on his lips as he chuckled and said-

"Heh~ That _other me_ has been very naughty lately, I'm surprised he wasn't caught by Tsu-chan for his latest stunt."

His hand pushed away a stray silver lock that fell over his eyes, revealing a purple tattoo under his left eye. He smirked and muttered, "Not that I don't approve."

His eyes flashed with mischief as he sighed fondly, "I really kind of feel bad that Tsu-chan is missing out on all the fun, though…."

"If only he knew what sort of mischief his Cloud Guardian is up to these days~"

* * *

 **So... Reviews? anyone?**


	15. Dorks

**Dork**

 _plural-dorks_

 ** _noun_**

 _Someone who has odd interests, and is often silly at times. A dork is also someone who can be themselves and not care what anyone thinks._

* * *

"Suzuki-Sensei said we need to appoint a Team Leader who'll be responsible for the team." Kyoko said as she sat down on a chair in the cafeteria, between Nagi and Haru, while the three boys sat before the girls –Kyoya sitting furthest from them as if they were rabid dogs or something – _Huh, now that's an offending thought._

"Hahaha, I don't mind being a leader!" Takeshi said jokingly.

"Oh, really now?" Nagi smirked as she leaned a bit forward, her eyes flashing competitively at Takeshi as she purred, "I think I would make a better leader than you, Blue-san."

"Oh?" Takeshi's eyes glinted with mischief and competitiveness as he spoke tauntingly, "You talk big for a tiny little girl, _Indigo-chan_."

Nagi's eyes narrowed just a bit as she murmured, "Oh it's so on, _pretty boy."_

"Ano…." Tsuna raised his voice tentatively as he saw how competitive his two friends were being, and sweat-dropped. "I think Cloud-san will make a good leader."

Evryone turned to give Kyoya a skeptical glance, who in turn shot Tsuna a disdainful look. He then walked off with a scoff and just a comment, "Spare me from your herbivorous idiocies, Baby Omnivore."

Tsuna face-palmed as he watched the antisocial Cloud walk off, and turned back to his friends as Kyoko mumbled in nonchalant amusement, "And there goes our tentative 'leader.'"

Haru sniffed haughtily and shot a half-hearted glare at the retreating Cloud's back, and said, "Him? Our _leader?_ Having him as our team leader will be like a disaster waiting to happen!"

Nagi snorted and commented offhandedly, "You're just miffed about the fact that he literally dragged you here against your will, Psyduck-chan."

"Hey! Don't call me that!" Haru cried out in offense.

"My, my, you're so easily offended that it's amusing, Psyduck-chan." Nagi teased with a cocky smirk on her face, to which Haru let out an aggravating growl – _much to her delight._

"Oi, no teasing the Psyduck, Mist-kun _."_ Tsuna said sternly as he kicked Nagi lightly under the table , though with the way his amber eyes flashed with mischief when Haru hissed like a disgruntled kitten betrayed his stern expression.

Nagi froze for a moment before a smirk bloomed on her lips and she tilted her head to the side. "Oya? Orange-san, I have to say, you're _very_ observant."

Tsuna smiled brightly at _her_ and nodded. "I aim to please."

Takeshi, Haru and Kyoko glanced between them to and fro. Takeshi scratched the back of his head in confusion and asked with a wary chuckle, "Uh, did we miss something?"

"Nothing important." Nagi said dismissively, though she still kept an eye out for the very observant Tsuna. "Why don't we go back on the topic of who should we choose as our Team Leader?"

Takeshi's eyes sparked again with competitiveness as he said, "That'll be me, of course."

"Hahi! Haru is the best choice for the team leader, obviously." Haru argued back.

Nagi raised a brow and said confidently, "You two are definitely delusional. Obviously, I'll be the Team leader."

Tsuna stared at the three of them as they argued and sighed exasperatedly. "You're all fighting for such a silly reason, it isn't even funny."

"Well," Kyoko pointed out, "I think they're excited to be Team Leader because whoever becomes the leader gets to order others around, and the others will have to follow their orders." Tsuna blinked and stared at her in confusion. His fire seemed to whisper something to help him realize what she actually means, but he still didn't get it, well, until she rolled her eyes and literally spelled it out to him, that is. " _Especially_ Kyoya."

Tsuna gave her a flat look. "You do know that he'd sooner bite them to death than to follow any of their _orders_ , right?"

"Of course they know that!" Kyoko chirped mischievously, "Doesn't mean they won't try, though."

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something, but clicked it shut the next moment a thought occurred to him. She was right. Even if it was stupid – _more like suicidal_ \- of them to even expect that _Kyoya_ would listen to their orders even if they were chosen as team leader, it doesn't mean they won't try. Because after all, just the thought of ordering Kyoya around was tempting enough for them to try their hands in being Team Leader- _even if they'd end up getting bitten to death._

An image of Kyoya reluctantly following his order flashed through Tsuna's mind, and for some reason he felt his ears turning hot and his cheeks flushed with an embarrassed blush –while his orange fire teasingly giggled inside him.

He snapped out of his trance and found himself staring at his friends as they argued about being the leader, and Tsuna felt irritated for some reason. _Like hell he'd let others be Leader get to order around **his** Cloud-san!_

 _"No."_ Tsuna said in an oddly calm tone, and the others snapped their heads towards him, staring at him with wide eyes. His eyes glinted orange as he tilted his head and declared, " _I_ will be the Team Leader."

The other three were stunned to hear his declaration.

The silence didn't last long though, as Takeshi started laughing in that obnoxious way of his, and exclaimed, "Hahaha, Tsuna, you too wanna be the Leader, huh?"

The other two snapped out of their trance, as Haru scowled and huffed, "Hahi! As if I'd let you take the top spot away so easily!"

Nagi though, just raised an eyebrow, and stared at him in amusement, "How interesting~" She mused.

Kyoko couldn't help but giggle at their antics, making them all turn to her. "You guys are also interesting! Hana-chan would've loved you all!" Her smile faltered when she thought of her friend, but quickly twitched her lips upwards in a grin, making the others wonder if they'd imagined her momentary downtrodden expression or what. Tsuna's orange fire pinged inside him slightly for a moment, but he couldn't wonder deeply about that since his attention was diverted by her next words, "Well, at this rate I don't think we'll get our team leader before the first activity this evening. In that case I have an idea- why don't you all compete to see who will be the leader of our team?"

Everyone's eyes brightened at her words.

"Nice, Kyoko-chan!" Haru exclaimed with a thumbs up.

"Haha, let's compete in baseball! I'll completely win, then!" Takeshi cheered.

"We neither have the time nor enough people to play baseball, pretty boy." Nagi deadpanned snarkily.

"Oops, I forgot!" Takeshi mumbled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, though from the grin he was sporting on it was obvious that he was just messing with them.

"So, what can we compete in, then?" Tsuna wondered out loud.

Nagi's eyes flashed red for a second as her eyes widened and a sadistic smirk flashed in them, though she quickly smothered it down –though by the narrow-eyed look Tsuna shot her(him?) it's clear that (s)he hadn't been fast enough.

"I have just the perfect idea." Nagi declared as she motioned them to come closer.

"I hope it isn't anything nasty." Tsuna sighed.

"Now, why would you say that?" Nagi asked in a mocking hurt tone.

Tsuna answered dryly, "You know the answer as well as I do, Mist- _kun_."

Nagi pouted, "Party pooper."

Takeshi wrapped an arm around Tsuna's shoulder and said, "Oh come on Tsuna, let's see what game she suggests. I'm sure it'll be something really fun."

"Yes, yes," Nagi nodded sagely, though her indigo eyes glittered mischievously, "I have a really _fun_ game for us to make our days at Summer Camp more memorable." she paused a bit, and then shrugged, "It's more like a bet actually."

The others shared a quizzical look. "A bet?" They asked.

"Yup." Nagi nodded and smirked as she pulled out a bunch of about three hundred Yen and placed them on the table. "I propose that the one who can hug Purple Onii-sama without getting bitten to death will not only be the team leader, but win the bet and take all the money."

The others reeled back in shock.

"No way!" Kyoko said disbelievingly.

"Are you trying to get us killed?!" Tsuna exclaimed as he shook his head.

"Hahi! Hugging that Vampire for _one minute?_ What if Haru freezes to death?" Haru shivered.

"Not if he bites you to death first, Psyduck-chan." Nagi teased her, to which the other girl glowered at her.

Takeshi chuckled uneasily, "Well, he can't be that bad right?"

"You don't even know the half of it." the others all said flatly in unison.

"Come on now," Nagi coaxed them calmly, "Don't be such scaredy cats. Be adventurous. Have some fun while you're still young!"

"She's just giving us a twisted version of the _"Welcome to the Dark Side"_ speech." Haru deadpanned.

"Hush, no one asked the Psyduck for her opinion." Nagi dismissed her with a teasing comment.

"Why, you-" Haru glowered and threw a plastic cup at her, which she dodged quite easily and smirked tauntingly at her, which only served to irritate Haru even more. While the two of them messed around, the other three thought over Nagi's proposal.

"It sounds really interesting." Kyoko mused with a bright smile on her face. "I'm sure it'll be fun!" She then placed a few notes of money of her own into the pile on the table.

"Well, I ain't the one to back down from a game." Takeshi said as his eyes glinted competitively as he himself placed 70 yen on the table.

Haru huffed as she turned away from Nagi and slammed a few notes of yen on the table with a scowl, "I'll win this bet, and make you regret teasing me." She threatened Nagi, to which the other just chuckled.

Tsuna stared at the ever growing pile of money, as well as the others and sighed. He wasn't as childish as his friends. He's smarter than them. _Like hell would he fall for such a lame trick by Mist-kun!_ Even his orange fire agreed that Cloud-san would rather bite them to death than to let them even touch him. _Of course he knew that_. He wasn't stupid enough to give in to an obviously failing bet! It's not like Kyoya would let them hug him. By off chance he does let anyone hug them, it's not a big deal anyways. It's just a hug. See? Nothing special.

 _Just a goddamn hug-_

-Tsuna quickly placed his own money into the pile and declared, "I'll win and get the spot of the team leader and all this money." _….and might get the hug as well while he's had the chance._

… _Ah?_ Why do his thoughts and actions contrast so much?

(Somewhere in his core, his orange fire curled in sadistic amusement as it seemed to tease him saying _"Hah! Sucker!")_

"Alright then." Nagi smirked as she collected all the money and handed it to Kyoko –after Tsuna gave er a flat look (because like hell he'd let the trickster Mist take their money and be off with it after laughing at their failed attempts at fulfilling the bet) which made the Mist pout- and said, "The bet will commence at dinner."

Tsuna paled at her words while the others seemed confused.

"Why dinner though?" Haru asked.

Tsuna whispered as he flinched. "During dinner everyone will be gathered in the cafeteria." Kyoko wanted to ask what he meant, but Tsuna interrupted her by saying urgently, "It means everyone will _crowd d_ uring the dinner."

"There's also the group Story-time activity after dinner." Nagi amusedly pointed out.

Kyoko winced, "Oh, we're all _doomed."_

"Why is that so?" Takeshi asked curiously.

Kyoko, Tsuna and even Nagi shook their heads. "Hibari-san _hates_ crowding." Kyoko stressed the gravity of the situation, but the other two didn't seem to understand.

"So what? That Vampire-lookalike would go on a rampage or something?" Haru asked, annoyed.

"No, something even worse." Tsuna said as he paled even further. "He'll bite them all to death."

* * *

True enough, Kyoya wasn't pleased when he was dragged to the crowded cafeteria during the dinner rush. His cheek was twitching in annoyance, and he resisted the urge to conjure his tonfas and start disciplining the crowd of baby herbivores and equally annoying fake-carnivore teachers. The way he seemed to emit bloodthirst just by standing in a lone corner of the cafeteria – _no one dared to even look at the irate Hibari lest he bite them to death_ \- only made Tsuna and others scoot away from him even further.

Kyoko's smile was strained as she said, "Ah, Hibari-san looks pissed."

"Oh God, _we're going to die_." Tsuna moaned as he tried his best not to hyperventilate. It's not like the others were faring any better though, with the way their hands quivered and goosebumps rose on their arms – _well, except Nagi, that is_. The way she was " _Kufufufu"_ -ing was really creeping the fuck out of them.

"Oh for God's sake, someone shut the creepy Gengar or I'll sew her mouth shut with my sewing kit!" Haru snapped as she tugged her bangs in frustration, and Takeshi wisely slapped his palm over her mouth before Nagi could retort to Haru. The chibi-Rain then raised an eyebrow at Haru and asked, "Gengar? Seriously?"

"What? I thought, she'd make a good Gengar with that creepy laughter of hers." Haru shrugged.

"Fair enough." Takeshi grinned.

"Well, I personally think Nagi-chan would make a good Misdreavus." Kyoko offered her own opinion.

Haru gave her a flat look. "With that creepy laughter of hers? No way!"

Tsuna waved his hand in a dismissive manner, "That's just Mist-kun being Mist-kun. It's not Mist-chan's fault, you know."

"Are you seriously discussing over _Pokemon_ right now?" Nagi asked, unimpressed as she finally shoved off Takeshi's hand palm off her mouth.

"I'll have you know _Pokemon_ discussion is a legit conversation." Haru said haughtily, and the others nodded in agreement.

"You know what else is legit? _Our bet."_ Nagi smiled –and if her smile was a bit _too_ sadistic and promised pain if they didn't follow her instructions right this instant, well….. let it not be said that the Pineapple haired Mist wasn't – _indirectly_ \- learning the art of intimidation from Yuna – _via Nagi Express, of course._

Everyone winced at her words.

"Can't we just forget about the bet?" Tsuna asked weakly as he distantly glanced at Kyoya and winced when he saw him smashing his tonfas on a boy's head who had accidentally shoved a girl in his haste.

"Yeah, you can even keep the money!" Kyoko agreed quickly, and shrunk her shoulders when Kyoya's eyes passed over their group as he surveyed the hall for undisciplined herbivores.

"What? No way-" Haru was about to argue, but Takeshi quickly covered her mouth with his hand on Tsuna's signal.

"Hmm, the offer sure is sound tempting~" Nagi pondered, but then smirked and shook her head, "But to trade the chance to see you all make a fool of yourself in exchange of money? No way!"

"Tch, what a trickster." Haru grumbled as she glared at Nagi.

"Come on now, let's stop wasting time. There's only an hour left till dinnertime ends, and I want everyone to finish the bet by then." Nagi said as she glanced at her wrist watch.

"Since when was there a time limit to the bet?" Tsuna deadpanned.

"Since now, why, do you have any problem?" Nagi asked. Tsuna and Haru opened their mouth to argue, only to be cut off by her. "None? Good."

"Then let the bet begin!"

* * *

Everyone shared a look.

"So….." Tsuna asked. "Who wants to go first?"

The others shared an uneasy look. Haru took a deep breath as she eyed Kyoya and said reluctantly, "Well, let me try. The sooner this bet ends the better." She then shrugged and said in (false) brave tone, "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?" Saying this, she walked towards Kyoya's direction with her chin up and confidant strides.

"…..Why is she trying to tempt Murphy?" Tsuna deadpanned.

"Alas!" Nagi said dramatically, "What else can you expect from a Psyduck?"

"Ne, aren't you overreacting?" Takeshi asked curiously.

"Just wait and watch, Yamamoto-kun" Kyoko said in a quiet tone.

They all watched Haru intently as she walked towards Kyoya and grabbed an empty plate from a passing kid – _who shot her a glare but shut his mouth before he could argue with her and went away to get another plate when he sensed multiple intense stares that sent shivers down his spine from the peanut gallery spying in the corner_ \- and acted as if she was going to join the long line of kids waiting to be served their dinner. When she neared Kyoya, she seemingly 'bumped' into a girl and tripped and fell towards Kyoya's back. As she stumbled, she extended her arms and her fingers _almost_ touched the back of his jacket-

-only for Kyoya to move at the last minute, and eyed her in disdain as she fell face-first on the floor with a SMASH! sound.

"Watch where you're going, herbivore." Kyoya snapped at the girl lying on the floor before he stalked off to terrorize someone else.

"Pfft-" Nagi laughed as she watched some kids nearby helping Haru up, while the girl who 'bumped' into her apologized profusely. Haru waved off their concern and scowled when she saw them laughing at her.

"Ehehehehe-!" Kyoko tried to smother her giggles seeing Haru's scowl, but it was a failed effort.

"Ahahahahahahahahaha!" Takeshi howled in laughter and leaned against Tsuna, who himself was trembling with chuckles.

" _Hahi!_ It wasn't funny!" Haru growled in annoyance. When the others still kept laughing at her, she huffed and said, "Well, let's see how good _you_ fare against him!"

That statement made them abruptly shut up.

"So," Nagi cleared her throat and asked, "Who's next?"

Tsuna and Takeshi shared a look and stepped back in unison, leaving Kyoko in front and Nagi beamed at Kyoko and said "Wonderful! You're next then, Kyoko-chan!"

Kyoko blinked and then turned to see the other two boys behind her, staring at her with apologetic looks, making her glare disapprovingly at them. "So much for camaraderie." she pouted but resigned herself to her fate. After a wary glance at Kyoya – _who kicked an older boy for littering empty packets of chips on the floor_ \- she winced and asked weakly, "Um, can't I just put more money into the bet in exchange for _not_ having to participate in it?"

"Hmmm~' Nagi taped her chin contemplatively, and then answered with a bright smile, "No."

Kyoko's shoulders sagged in resignation. "'thought so." Pursuing her lips in a straight line, she made her way towards Kyoya, though her steps faltered a bit when Kyoya turned towards her sharply and stared at her scathingly.

 _"What?"_ He growled in annoyance.

"Can I hug you?" she squeaked out somehow in terror.

Kyoya's glare intensified as he flat out refused, " _No."_

"Okay!" Kyoko said and quickly fled away from the demon child of Namimori before his irritation spikes and he bites her to death.

(The peanut gallery gathered at the corner face-palmed. Nagi pouted, "That's no fun."

"I was expecting another episode of comic-relief –just like the one Psyduck-chan had performed a while ago." Tsuna agreed with her.

"Hey!" Haru snapped at the other two, which they ignored with practiced ease.

"She saved herself from being bitten to death. That's amazing, I think." Takeshi pointed out, and the others whole-heartedly agreed.)

Kyoko walked towards them and rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. "Oh god, Hibari-san is so _scary_!" she mumbled and leaned against Haru, who patted her back reassuringly.

"You did well though." Haru said consolingly.

"At least you didn't embarrass yourself like our resident Psyduck here." Nagi said in amusement.

"Stop calling me that!" Haru hissed at her.

"Never!" Nagi shot back.

Kyoko took a few deep breaths to regain back her composure. Once her fear of the demon child settled down, she was back to her usual self as she smiled at the others – _even though it was a bit strained_ , and gestured towards Takeshi and Tsuna, "Who's going next, then?"

Tsuna pointed at Takeshi, who chuckled fondly and said, "Ah, I guess that's me, then."

Kyoko gave Tsuna a look and said, "You can't keep putting off your turn like that, Tsuna-kun. Sooner or later it'll be your turn."

"I am perfectly willing if my turn never comes." Tsuna said flatly with a shudder.

"Like that's gonna happen." Nagi said dryly.

"And when is your turn, then?" Tsuna asked her in annoyance.

"After you, that's for sure." Nagi retorted.

Tsuna opened his mouth to argue, but was cut off by Takeshi's comment, "I'll be off then!"

Saying this, he jogged towards Kyoya, who had found a lone corner on the outer side of the cafeteria with less herbivores around him and was eying the crowd with faux-calm eyes.

Takeshi tiptoed around Kyoya as if he were a prey trying to outwit a predator, and the orange fire pinged lightly as Tsuna finally realized what Takeshi is thinking of doing.

("Oh my God, he can't be serious!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"What?" Haru was startled by his exclamation.

"Tsuna-kun, what's going on?" Kyoko asked.

Nagi too shot him a questioning look.

Tsuna groaned – _his eyes momentarily glinted a lighter shade of orange_ \- as he pointed at Takeshi and said flatly "Rain-san is trying to _literally_ trying to pounce on Cloud-san and catch him off guard enough to hug him."

Cue a two minute silence. And then, the three of them exclaimed in unison-

 _"WHAT?!")_

And true to Tsuna's words, the moment Kyoya turned away to stare at a particular herbivore who was disturbing the peace by flinging strings of noodles at others for fun, Takeshi pounced on Kyoya, thinking his plan was foolproof, and that he would definitely win the bet. And it would have been so too-

-had his opponent not been **_the_** _Hibari Kyoya._

Kyoya sidestepped the baby Rain and kicked him straight in abdomen – _forcing him to wheeze out of breath_ \- and a strike of tonfa sent the baby Rain herbivore and crash onto a table of herbivores enjoying their dinner – _who shrieked at the sudden arrival of Takeshi's who **literally** crashed their dinner._

Kyoya's eyes flashed in fury as he stalked towards the peanut gallery who inched away from the demon child who was _this_ close to snapping at them.

"I have had _enough_ of your antics. What are you herbivores up to?" Kyoya glowered at them. When they tried to argue back, he shut them off with his next statement, "Don't think I didn't notice the rest of you staring at me while one of you approached me each time. What the hell are you all doing?"

The others shrunk back at his comment.

Kyoya's eyes snapped towards Nagi's hunched form and narrowed at her. "Nagi," he asked –no, _demanded_. _"I asked you a question."_

(Somewhere in her mindscape, Nagi blinked as Mukuro shoved her to the front.

 _"Ah my dear Nagi, I think it's time for me to head back."_ Mukuro said serenely –and Nagi would've been fooled if she hadn't seen the cold sweat dripping down his forehead. " _My minions must be waiting for me."_

Saying this he disappeared in a shower of indigo glitter. Nagi wondered what had happened to make Mu-kun flee like that. She closed her eyes and reviewed the memories of the past few hours when she had let Mukuro possess her for a while – _like they had been doing a few hours each day for the past few weeks_ \- as a form of training.

When she realized what Mukuro had done in the past few hours – _teasing her friends, inciting them to take a ridiculously suicidal bet, the utter stupidity that followed as her idiot friends even **agreed** with Mu-kun's demands – **How stupid can they all be?!**_ **-** she couldn't help but face-palm.

 _"Mu-kun, you ass!"_ Nagi rubbed her temple as she cursed Mukuro for dropping her in this mess. _"You could've at least warned me before shoving me to face the wrath of Onii-sama!"_ she whined.)

Nagi blinked a few times – _and was it Kyoya's imagination or the indigo in Nagi's eyes lightened a bit?_ \- as she calmly replied, "We made a bet to see who can hug you, Onii-sama."

"Don't make it sound like you don't have anything to do with it!" Haru argued weakly but shut up with a squeak when Kyoya's glaring eyes snapped towards her.

Nagi didn't reply.

"Let's put this farce to the end then." Kyoya glowered as he grabbed the one closest to him – _that happened to be Tsuna_ \- and dragged him towards himself. Tsuna stumbled and fell towards Kyoya, who wrapped his arms around the smaller boy in a tight embrace.

Everyone – _even the teachers and other baby herbivores eying them from afar_ \- froze and gaped at them.

Kyoya's hug was just like his temper- firmly tight enough to choke him if it were any tighter, but gentle in the way that it seemed to engulf him in a warm blanket, making Tsuna's cheeks unconsciously flush for some reason. Tsuna's fingers unconsciously curled around the collar of Kyoya's jacket as he inhaled Kyoya's scent. The orange fire inside him _curled_ pleasantly and thrummed in pleasure.

Kyoya then abruptly released Tsuna and Takeshi quickly grabbed Tsuna before he could stumble and trip down in his sluggishness. "Now that your stupid bet is done and over with, don't mess with me herbivores, or _I'll bite you to death!"_ Kyoya threatened them and soon stalked off.

It took a few minutes before the surprise wore off the four of them, and they soon crowded around a dazed Tsuna and helped him sit down on a chair near them.

"Did that just happen?" Haru asked weakly, unable to believe the events that had transpired a few minutes ago.

"Yes." Kyoko answered with a hesitant nod.

"It's a good thing Hibari-san didn't bite us to death, right?" Takeshi chuckled sheepishly and then turned to Tsuna and patted his back. "And it was really brave of Tsuna to endure Hibari-san's 'deathly' embrace."

Haru nodded, "Yeah, Haru would have died if that Vampire had choked her with that tight hug of his."

"Tsuna-kun really got the short end of the stick, though." Kyoko said sympathetically.

"Well, as compensation, let's make Tsuna our Team Leader. Besides, in the end Tsuna was the only one who got to hug Hibari – _even if it was the other way around_ \- without ending up annoying him with his antics, so by default Tsuna won the bet, right?" Takeshi suggested.

"Yeah." The other two agreed.

Nagi just quietly eyed Tsuna's sluggish state and wondered if Tsuna had really gotten the short end of the stick. Because from his flushing cheeks and his dazed amber eyes it sure didn't seem like that.

 _Don't you agree?_

* * *

 **A/N:- Aw...Tsu-kun's budding crush on Kyo-chan is so hilarious! Kyo-chan is so oblivious that it only adds to the hilarity. Na-chan is suspecting something, and we all have an idea what it is, right? *wink*wink* Also, Mu-kun, you're not supposed to appear so soon in the story! Wait for your turn, dammit!**

 **The chibi-Vongolas are gathering one by one -it's no wonder that madness would follow them even without the Spartan-Tutor's presence. XD Just imagine the shenanigans that would be ensued when Reborn arrives. *cackles evilly***

 **So... Reviews? Anyone?**

 **P.S.- Sorry, no OMAKES for today 'coz one- this chapter is already funny enough, I don't want to kill you with laughter by adding the OMAKE too. And two- the next Arcobaleno OMAKE is one you've all always wanted ever since you started reading the story, but haven't got till now. XD**

 **Any guesses?**


	16. Apricity

**_Apricity_**

 **Meaning:** Describes the universally enjoyable sensation of feeling the sun's radiant heat onto your body on a cold winter's day. A clear bright and serenely beautiful corporeal sensation

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Takeshi found himself wake up all of a sudden. Honestly, he didn't even know what woke him up so abruptly. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Sometimes his instincts would suddenly sharpen in some situations, and this usually happened on _interesting_ occasions. Though he had no idea why these instincts would act up _now_ of all the times.

His dark eyes flickered blue for a second as he turned his head to scan his surroundings. It was a good thing he chose to sleep on the topmost bunk bed, since it really provided a great vantage point of view, though the darkness in the room made it hard to see. Maybe he should've agreed with Tsuna to let the night-lamp be lit for the rest of the night. _At least he wouldn't have trouble seeing in the dark then._

His eyes narrowed on a particular short figure as they walked into their assigned room with silent footsteps, and he couldn't make out who it was because the darkness was making that person seem blurry. He wondered if it was some thief or some other kid trying to pull a prank on them. The teachers won't approve, and most likely would punish the prankster if they ever came to know about this, _well if Hibari-sempai didn't get to them first._ Now to think of it, it's strange that Hibari-sempai hadn't bitten the intruder to death by now. The older Hibari had seemed like a paranoid person with sharp – _almost animalistic_ \- instincts. It's weird that he hadn't attacked their intruder by now.

 _Hm…. maybe he was a heavy sleeper?_

Takeshi eyed the person as they slowly made their way towards the corner of the room where the three of them had dropped their unpacked bags in exhaustion last night. He tensed, and wondered if he should attack the intruder _….. Maybe the noise from their confrontation would wake up Hibari-sempai?_ Well, that'd be good, considering sempai looked like someone who had experience dealing with these kinds of things.

The intruder dropped something metallic next to a bag – _what were those? Pipes?_ \- and started rummaging in a bag for something. Takeshi tensed his limbs and finally decided to pounce on the other person, when he felt someone a smaller hand pat his hand – _that had been gripping the edge of the bunk bed tightly_ \- in a gentle manner. Startled, Takeshi immediately looked down, only to find himself staring at Tsuna – _who had been lying on the middle bunk_ \- his amber eyes glowing in the dark. Tsuna shook his head, and Takeshi pursued his lips, but agreed to Tsuna's wordless command and did not attack the intruder.

The intruder pulled out something from one of the bags and then headed to the other door inside the room and walked into the bathroom. It wasn't until the light from the bathroom was switched on and fell over the dark figure when Takeshi realized that the person he had been thinking of as an intruder all this time happened to be Hibari-sempai. He blinked his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness in the room, and for some reason, his eyes zeroed on the patches of dirt on Hibari-sempai's clothes and the bruises that peeked beneath the hem of his jacket. Hibari-sempai hesitated and glanced towards them – _and both Tsuna and Takeshi immediately closed their eyes to feign sleep and only opened their eyes when they heard the footsteps sound distant and the door of the bathroom click shut_.

When Takeshi heard the sound of shower being turned on in the bathroom, he immediately opened his eyes and pushed off the covers and peered down from the edge of the top bunk bed at Tsuna in the middle bunk, who was staring at the bathroom door with a solemn look in his amber eyes.

Takeshi hesitated for a while before he asked, "Ne, Tsuna? Where had Hibari-sempai been till now?"

Tsuna blinked and glanced up at Takeshi. "Cloud-san must've been on his night patrol duty." tsuna mused. "He always sleeps after finishing his night patrol in Namimori's streets. Since we are not exactly in the town, Cloud-san must've gotten twitchy, which is why his patrol took much more time than it usually does."

 _Night patrol? What is he-some self-proclaimed policeman?_

Takeshi tilted his head and asked, "I think something happened. He was wounded. What do you think had happened?"

Tsuna's eyes darkened as he spoke, "Some herbivores must've been wandering around after late hours then." Seeing Takeshi's concerned expression, he quickly reassured him with a smile and said, "Don't worry though, I'm sure Cloud-san must've punished them."

Takeshi watched Tsuna as he glanced back at the bathroom door with a worried look in his eyes, and for a moment he felt a pang of jealousy inside him. Hibari-sempai was really lucky to have such a loyal friend like Tsuna who worries for him. From the way he had seen Tsuna interact with the Nagi and Hibari-sempai, it's obvious that Tsuna had been friends with the Hibari siblings for far longer than he had known either Kyoko, or Takeshi – _to say nothing of Haru, whom they had only met that day_. Being friends for so long, their bonds must be rather deep if Tsuna could just deduce the situation from Hibari-sempai's actions. Sure, Takeshi acknowledged Tsuna as his friend – _a **real** friend, unlike those hypocrites that usually crowd around him_\- and maybe Tsuna too thought the same way, but it doesn't mean that their friendship would be as deep as the bond Tsuna had with Hibari siblings. Can their friendship grow stronger too? Will a day ever come when Tsuna would be able to decipher what was bothering him with just one look in his eyes? Will Takeshi ever find the courage to tell Tsuna about his mother?

 _Can he trust Tsuna to not leave when he knows the truth one day?_

A soft, warm hand wrapped around his hand that tightly held the edge of the blanket in a fist and his trembling body calmed slightly at the touch. Takeshi blinked away the tears that filled in his eyes and glanced down at Tsuna, who patted his hand softy and smiled at him.

"Rain-san, don't think about stupid things in the middle of night. It will affect your sleep." Tsuna said softly.

Takeshi couldn't help but grin brightly at his words. "Hai, Hai." he said sheepishly and settled back on the bed and draped the blankets over himself that he had pushed off in haste earlier. Tsuna's next words made him freeze for a moment.

"And do try to trust us, okay? We are not so superficial as to judge a book by it's cover." Tsuna said with a cryptic smile on his face before he turned his back towards Takeshi and got back to sleep.

Something curled inside him warmly at Tsuna's words and he couldn't help but let out a goofy smile. In his oblivious happy mood, he hadn't noticed the door of bathroom being opened and Hibari-sempai stepped out in his pajamas, rubbing a towel over his damp hair as he made his way towards the bed, and narrowed his eyes at the chibi-Rain on the top bunk who was grinning like a fool.

"Did you hit your head this late at night, herbivore?" Hibari-sempai asked, to which Takeshi just looked at him obliviously.

"Ah? I don't understand what you mean, sempai." Takeshi said to which Hibari-sempai scoffed.

"Typical Rain herbivore." he muttered under his breath, to which Takeshi tilted his head in confusion. _What did he mean_? Rolling his eyes at the chibi-Rain's denseness towards everything except baseball, Kyoya threw his now damp towel on Takeshi's face, making him sputter, and grunted at him, "Staying up late at night is not permitted for baby herbivores. Go back to sleep."

Takeshi picked up the towel Kyoya had thrown on his face and dropped it to the side, and glanced back at Kyoya –who had picked up his phone (W _hy would any sane being give a nine year old a phone?! Are Hibari-sempai's parents as crazy as him?_ )and typed a message and sent it to someone before dropping it on the side table and got into his bed on the lowest bunk.

Takeshi lay down on the bed and thought of all the new friends he made today. He thought of Kyoko-chan – _sweet, sweet Kyoko who treats everyone with kindness_ ; Haru-chan – _of the lonely look in her eyes that the girl hides with sarcasm and fantastical humor_ ; Nagi-chan – _of her seemingly mood swings_ _(one minute she's sweet and shy –with a spine of steel hidden beneath all that shyness- and the next moment she's sadistic and bloodthirsty –with a side note of amusement)_ ; Hibari-sepmai – _with his unflappable demeanor and violent ways that seem rather oddly endearing than threatening_ ; and Tsuna – _with his kind smiles and orange eyes that seemed to glow in understanding_.

A day ago he had been the same lonely boy with brittle smiles and too many issues weighing down his shoulders. But now, _now_ he wasn't lonely, because he had friends – _true_ friends who would rather stay with him than just pretend to be his friends like his hypocrite classmates.

 _And, that is all that mattered to him._

* * *

A knock on the door snapped Yuna out of her thoughts. She pushed away the paperwork she had been trying to do – _keyword "try", because damn it paperwork is so boring, and she would rather kick ass than sit on a chair and be forced to sign off documents she had no idea about_ \- and eagerly looked forward to whatever distraction she had been mercifully provided with for now, only to deflate at the sight of her Second-in-command opening the door of her office with even _more_ paperwork in his hands.

 _"Oh my God,"_ Yuna moaned as she let her head fall into her hands and let out a suffering sigh. "It's past midnight, and I haven't even completed one pile yet – _and don't fucking tell me I have to review that bundle too before I can retire for the night!"_ Yuna hissed as she grabbed a pen from her desk and pointed it threateningly towards her 'Second-in-command'-slash-assistant, who just shot her an amused look.

Tsukasa Yuiichi, with his years of experience in dealing with Yuna and her mood swings, just walked into the room – _more like glide on the floor gracefully rather than walk, damn Yuna really envied his graceful movements that make her look like a drunken chicken in comparison_ \- and placed the new bundle next to the pile of paperwork Yuna had been looking into earlier.

"Don't worry, this pile isn't due until Friday." Yuichi said and couldn't repress a chuckle when Yuna let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank Gods for small mercies…" she mumbled under her breath and rubbed her temple.

Yuiichi sat on a chair and grabbed some documents from the pile Yuna had been working on and started helping her out. Yuna stared at him gratefully, before she too continued filing paperwork.

Soon, the sound of scratching of the nib of pen against the paper, and the occasional turning of pages filled the room as the two of them worked in compatible silence. The silence wasn't depressing, and for once in these past few weeks, Yuna didn't feel as stressed as she usually did these days. It was almost pleasant, and dare she say, normal.

So of course, just when Yuna had almost relaxed, Yuiichi – _the utter sadist_ \- poked her sore spot with a metaphorical stick - _like the insensitive asshole he was_ \- with his words. "So Yuna-sama, when are you going to end this cold war that has been going on between you and Seiji-sama?"

Yuna clenched the pen between her fingers so tightly that-

 _Crack!_

-it split into two. Yuna glared at him murderously and say, _"That is none of your business."_

"You're right. It really is none of my business." Yuiichi admitted. "Except, this time the argument between you two is not only straining your relationship, but is also affecting your health in worst ways." Yuna wanted to argue, but Yuiichi's next words made her shut up. "No, my Lady, don't think I haven't noticed the dark bags under your eyes, your poor appetite as well as your temper these days. You have neither been eating or sleeping properly, and it shows from your attitude." Yuiichi sighed when Yuna looked away uncomfortably, unable to look him in the eyes because she knew what he was saying was true. "You can't keep doing this, Yuna-sama. Your health is already a fragile matter, you should not mess it up even more."

"You think I don't know that?" Yuna muttered s she clenched her fists and said with gritted teeth. "You think I want my health to deteriorate like this? You think I'm masochistic enough to do this to myself for some sick pleasure?"

"You know that is not what I mean-"

"No, listen to me Yuiichi." Yuna said sharply, making the man shut up abruptly because his Boss had never ever called his name in such solemn tone even in most desperate situations. "It's not that I don't care about myself, it's just- right now, we have something much more important to look out for, and that is _my son's life_. My husband – _being the utter naïve idiot he is_ -" Yuna sneered, "is being too blind in his devotion to his brother to notice that Brother-in-law is just using this opportunity to divert the attention of those bloodhounds-like opposite factions towards Kyo-chan, so as he can get time to gather evidences against them and stirke them while they're busy taking out the _"heir"_. They're just playing _bloody politics_ , and they intend to drag my Kyo-chan in it – _which I will not let happen_." Yuna's eyes flickered purple for a moment, and she resisted the urge to flinch when the seal once again slammed onto the remnants of flames that had escaped from it in her fury, and continued on her tirade, "Ever since Brother-in-law has declared my son as his heir, the foreigner presence inside Namimori has risen and the frequent assassination and kidnapping attempts on _my_ children's lives has increased –which has only be thwarted thanks to the diligence of my men. _And of course, we can't forget that my oblivious husband is still denying to see my point!_ Why would I not be stressed when some supposed idiots want to drag _my children into a mess which has nothing to do with them?!"_ Yuna had been panting by the end of her tirade. Her eyes blurred with tears which she hastily wiped, and glowered at Yuiichi.

"I have been burned and scarred too many times in the past Yuiichi-san." She admitted softly, her hands trembling just the slightest bit to show how shaken she was. "Time and time again my freedom taken away from me, my courage had been shattered and my trust had been broken into pieces. By a brother who promised to protect me, but ended up as a grieving mess because of a curse, and was too shaken up to protect me from anyone. By my so called 'family' who didn't even hesitate to sell me out to our enemies and let my Flames, _my will_ be sealed. I dare not believe in anyone anymore- except my son." her eyes softened and glazed over as she thought of her son. "He is my Kyo-chan, _my precious little Cloud_ , and I'd rather die than let him come to any harm."

"Is this because he's your son?" Yuiichi asked in a quiet tone.

Yuna's lips quirked up in a mirthless smile as she answered honestly, "Do I need any more reason than that?"

Yuiichi stared at Yuna with an unreadable look in his eyes. "I understand." He said with a nod as he got up grabbed a jug and poured a glass of water for her. He pushed it gently towards her as well as her pills, which he reluctantly took. After taking her medicine she took a few deep breaths. "Have you calmed down now?" Yuiichi asked softly. Yuna nodded.

"Good." Yuiichi said, and acted as if Yuna hadn't just had a mental break down right now, and sat back on his chair. "I had actually came to tell you something. Kusakabe Tetsuya had called me earlier to inform that Young Master Kyoya had found some suspicious people sniffing around the Camp area during his night patrol, and had apprehended them."

"Damn, they move fast." Yuna grumbled. "I thought we still had at least a day or two before they realized that Kyo-chan isn't in Namimori anymore." A thought occurred to her and asked, "Has Kyo-chan and Na-chan's protection detail arrived yet?"

Yuiichi shook his head. "No, they're a bit late."

"Damn that rascal!" Yuna cursed and got up from her desk. She grabbed her phone and was about to walk out of the office when Yuiichi stopped her.

"Your paperwork-"

"I'll handle it tomorrow. Right now, I have a moron to lecture for their late arrival." She scowled and was about to walk off, but then remembered something and asked, "By the way, has someone been sent to clean up the corpses after Kyo-chan was done with them?"

"Kusakabe has sent someone to deal with it." Yuiichi informed her, to which Yuna nodded.

"Good to know."

* * *

The next morning, Tsuna and his friends - _sans Kyoya_ \- found themselves in the canteen, having breakfast. The five of them sat together in a circular formation around the table. Haru looked around the table, and finding the presence of their resident demon child missing, asked, "Hahi, where's the Vampire this morning?"

"He's still sleeping." Tsuna answered her as he sipped his chocolate milkshake.

"Onii-sama likes to sleep in." Nagi added in her own two cents before she nibbled a cookie.

"And the teachers didn't try to wake him up like they did to us at the crack of dawn?!" haru asked in disbelief.

Tsuna chuckled, "They don't dare to, Psyduck-chan. After all, Cloud-san is quite infamous back at home."

"That's unfair!" Haru cried out. "Why does _he_ get to sleep in and we don't?!"

"Because he is _Hibari Kyoya_ , and you are not." Kyoko quipped in with a cheery smile on her face, making Haru sulk in a corner, depressed.

"You guys are so mean, and biased." Haru's sulky tone made the others giggle.

"So, I've been meaning to ask yesterday," Takeshi spoke up, making the others turn to him. "Which activities have you joined for Summer Camp?"

Kyoko answered, "Well, I chose Cooking."

"Me too!" Haru beamed and she shared a high-five with Kyoko. "I also chose Knitting & Sewing Class."

"That's great!" Kyoko exclaimed. "Maybe I'll try that out too."

"That'll be awesome!" Haru cheered.

Kyoko then turned to Nagi and asked, "Nagi-chan, did you choose Cooking too?"

Nagi immediately shook her head. "Ah, no….. I choose the Arts and Craft club."

"Aw….." Kyoko pouted in disappointment.

"Why not join the Cooking class too just like us? I've heard we can choose more than one activities for the Summer Camp." Haru asked.

"Um….." Nagi replied hesitantly, "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Yeah," Tsuna piped in with a chuckle, "Unless you want to burn the kitchen, then don't ask Mist-chan to join the Cooking Class."

The two girls winced. "That bad, huh?" Haru asked.

"Worse…" Nagi mumbled, embarrassed, "The last time I tried to make tea for Onii-sama, I burned even _water_."

The two girls stared at her, speechless.

"Let's take a two minute silence for the tea. _Amen._ " Takeshi said in a mock solemn tone, making Haru and Kyoko smack the back of his head and exclaim in disapproval-

"Yamamoto!"

Takeshi couldn't help but laugh. "Ahahaha-! Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't resist."

Tsuna's lips twitched upwards and spoke up to divert the girls' attention, and in turn saved Takeshi from a beating from girls, "Well, I myself chose Photography."

"Why Photography?" Kyoko asked curiously.

Tsuna shrugged. "I dunno. I thought it'd be nice to learn about it. Kaa-chan likes to take photos and I guess it'd make her really happy if I learn photography. Besides, I think capturing our novel experiences in a photo would make for good memories when we grow older."

"Photography classes are in the evening, right?" Takeshi asked with a grin, and when Tsuna nodded, he eagerly asked his proposal, "That's great! I have Parkour classes in the morning. Why don't you join me for that? We'll be together then, won't that be nice?"

"I don't know…." Tsuna asked uncertainly, and Takeshi's enthusiasm dimmed at his words.

Nagi noticed that and decided to give Tsuna the push he needed to agree with Takeshi. "Aw…. too bad. If you had joined the Parkour team, that'd have been nice, since you' could have given Onii-sama company too." At Tsuna's stunned look, she smiled and nodded, "Yup, Onii-sama has joined Parkour, as well as Extreme Sports for the Summer Camp."

Tsuna immediately turned to Takeshi, and the dark haired boy was almost blinded by the brunette's sparkling eyes and bright grin as he spoke, "Alright! Where do I sign, then?!"

Takeshi stared at him, speechless. Hasn't he been uncertain about joining the parkour team just now? Why the sudden change in attitude?

The girls just giggled at the boys' antics. Nagi especially couldn't help but chuckle.

Really, you want Tsuna to do something? Just drop Kyoya's name in your conversation, and Orange-san would even bend backwards to do your bidding. _That's Orange-san for ya._

* * *

After breakfast, the kids all went to attend their respective activities, and those who didn't have classes in the morning were being huddled by Nayuki-sensei who was readying them for a walk around the forest.

The children from the parkour team were standing under a shade of a particularly large oak tree, waiting for their teacher/mentor to give them their instructions. Tsuna bounced eagerly next to Takeshi, as he looked around for Kyoya, and deflated when he couldn't find him.

"I bet he's still in bed." Takeshi said to Tsuna.

Tsuna pouted glumly. "Isn't that obvious….."

Suzuki-Sensei arrived five minutes later, talking on the phone with someone, and the way she spoke harshly it was obvious that she was arguing with someone.

"-can't just do that! You promised you'll be here by six in the morning!" Suzuki-Sensei said in annoyance.

The children hushed as they watched the woman's expression turn angrier as she exclaimed, "What do you mean you forgot?!"

The person on the other side seemed to explain their circumstances, but Suzuki-sensei was having none of it. "Look, I don't care how you'll do it, but I want you here by noon. Capische?" After hearing the reply from the other side, she clicked her phone shut, and took deep breaths and then turned towards them.

The children eyed her warily as Suzuki-Sensei – _who had been as angry as a fire-breathing dragon a while ago_ \- smiled brightly at them – _that made them even warier, honestly, women are so **weird**_ \- and said, "You're the kids who joined the Parkour team, right?"

When the kids nodded, she sighed and said, "Unfortunately, your teacher is running a bit late, so we'll have to cancel today's session." seeing the disappointed looks in the kids' eyes, she said, "Hey now, no need to be so sad! Why don't we do something fun for today?"

"Like what?" One of the kids asked.

"We can play a game, for one. What game would you like to play?" She asked them sweetly.

"Basketball!"

"Hide and Seek!"

"Kick the can!

"Baseball!" Yamamoto exclaimed predictably.

Soon, more and more kids offered their own ideas, and before their conversation turn into an argument – _or worse, a brawl_ \- Suzuki-Sensei put a stop to it by declaring that they'll play tag. And so, Tuna and Takeshi spent their first activity session playing tag.

* * *

Haru dragged Kyoko with her to the Sewing and Knitting club, which was being led by a female teacher from Namimori North Elementary. Hisako-sensei seemed to know Haru quite well, since she had greeted Haru warmly, and even agreed with Haru's request of letting her new friend Kyoko look around for a while.

Kyoko guessed it was really nice, working with threads and needles and fabrics to make something new. Hisako-sensei was a nice woman, she would often advise Kyoko about which color combinations would look best, and what type of fabric is best suited for what kind of thing. She was patient and would help the beginners out in their sewing –though some of the girls would often not take her advice and poke their own fingers with the needle, and then they'd cry when their little wounds bleed a bit. Hisako-sensei had no choice but to send them to infirmary.

For the first day, the task wasn't that hard. Hisako-Sensei asked the girls to sew their names on their assigned handkerchiefs. While the beginners – _the ones who had picked up the needle for the first time I their life_ \- were asked to just sew five straight nine on the handkerchief of different colored threads.

Kyoko had helped her mother out at home a few times in sewing her brother's shirts, so she didn't have any problem sewing her name on the handkerchief in capital letters. Though Haru-chan's work had been amazing, compared to her simple sewing, Haru-chan had somehow sewed her name on the handkerchief in pretty cursives that had made even Hisako-sensei sigh in admiration.

"Haru-chan, you're amazing!" Kyoko gushed at Haru, who didn't seem to pay her any mind. Instead, there was a sad look in her eyes as she watched another girl who wore a pretty flower headband.

"Haru-chan…" Kyoko asked uncertainly, wondering what made her new friend so sad.

"Ne, Kyoko-chan….." Haru whispered. "You know, compared with her I don't think I'm anything amazing."

"What are you-"

"Oh my!" Hisako-sensei exclaimed as she peered at the pretty girl's handkerchief in admiration. "Ami-chan, this is fabulous! I didn't expect you'd do such beautiful embroidery of a rose, Ami-chan. Also, the way you've sewed your name with golden thread is really adorable! As expected of my star pupil!"

The pretty girl -Ami-chan didn't let the praise go to her head. Instead, she just nodded and accepted the praise as if it were expected of her. Her eyes though caught Haru's eyes for a second, before she looked away as if Haru wasn't worth her time. For some reason, that made Kyoko bristle a bit.

Haru sighed and turned away from her and turned towards Kyoko. When she saw the frown on Kyoko's face, her expression softened and she bumped Kyoko's shoulders and smiled, "It's alright Kyoko-chan. Don't mind Ami-chan, she's sort of a prodigy in our school. She is so perfect, she can do almost everything, you know!" Haru's eyes seemed to sparkle as she talked about Ami.

"So, is she your friend, Haru-chan?" Kyoko asked, curiously, wondering if she got it wrong. Haru was so enthusiastic about Ami-chan, maybe they were good friends or something?

Haru's grin faltered and she shifted nervously, "Ah….. no. She's just- well, she's my classmate."

Kyoko's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Haru's dejected expression, and then glanced back at Ami who was now being surrounded by a few girls who were gushing at her talent and admiring her work and wished Hana-chan was with her here. Maybe she'd then help her understand what was the deal with Haru-chan and Ami-chan and why the heck was she feeling the sudden violent urge to punch this 'Ami-chan' for no reason.

* * *

Nagi enjoyed her first Art and Craft Class in the afternoon. The class was being held a few hours before lunch, and they had plenty of time to complete their task. Today their teacher Tatsuki-Sensei was teaching them how to make origami things. It had been easy at first to create an origami dog and bird –just twist the paper this way, fold it that way, cut off this bit – _and Viola! The Origami Bird is ready!_

It got a bit harder after that- creating dragons, roses, lotuses, penguins etc from Origami papers was a bit mind-numbing, but an exciting task. Sure, she did felt frustrated sometimes when she folded the paper a bit too less or a bit too more, or when she twisted it the wrong way or when it somehow turned out the exact opposite of what she wanted – _it really was a test of her patience that she managed to complete all the Origami projects Tatsuki-sensei had assigned for today_. She even got a gold star badge for her good work!

Nagi hummed under her breath and skipped towards the canteen with a book in her hands that Tatsuki-sensei had lent to her so as she could look into it for some nice Origami designs. Maybe she should find the instructions to create an origami pineapple for Mu-kun too. She was sure he'd appreciate her efforts.

(Somewhere in Italy, Mukuro sneezed. he then frowned and wondered why did he feel the sudden urge to strange Nagi –or maybe stab her with his trident- because of annoyance.) 

* * *

Nagi waved at Tsuna and Takeshi, who had already gotten there before her and were just waiting for their friends to arrive. She then sat down next to Tsuna, and looked around and furrowed her brow in worry. "Where are Kyoko-chan and Psyduck-chan?"

"They're running a bit late." Tsuna said. "Their Cooking class still hasn't ended till now."

"Ah, I see." Nagi nodded. "And Onii-sama?"

"He-"

"There he is!" Takeshi cut off Tsuna from speaking and pointed at the entrance of the canteen as one Hibari Kyoya walked inside wearing a cute Pikachu shirt and blue shorts and walked towards them. Tsuna's ears reddened a bit, while Nagi couldn't help but giggle at her brother's cute appearance. Even Takeshi seemed to find it funny, since he himself was trying his best to suppress his laughter – _and failing spectacularly at that_. Kyoya grabbed a chair and pulled it a bit away from the three of them and glared at them with half-lidded eyes which only seemed to make him look even more adorable.

No wonder her Onii-sama doesn't like wearing anything but dark colors and uniforms. Dark colors make him look intimidating and dangerous, while uniforms helped in making him look even more graceful and sophisticated. Whenever Kyoya wears light colored outfits or adorable shirts, it'd make everyone dumbfounded and resist the urge to squeal – _or pinch his cheeks_ \- because _damn can Kyoya look good._ His dark hair that contrasted with his fair skin, his pretty grey eyes, the baby fat that clung to his limbs –coupled with the cute Pikachu shirt and blue shorts made him look adorable – _and for once a normal kid, and not the demon child the people of Namimori know him as_. The dumbfounded and speechless looks of everyone in the cafeteria –including the teachers and the students- is _so_ worth it.

"Onii-sama, what happened to your usual clothes?" Nagi asked with a cough while trying to smother a giggle. She did not want to be bitten to death, _thank you very much_.

Kyoya shot her a glare – _which showed her exactly how much she had managed to hide her amusement from him_ (aka, not at all)\- and he reluctantly replied with a scowl, "Kaa-san must've messed with my bag after I had finished my packing, because there's not even a single shirt inside my bag that I recognize from my closet."

The corner of Nagi's lips twitched up in a smile as she admitted, "That does sound like her."

"Haha, Hibari-sempai, you look really cute! Doesn't he, Tsu-" Takeshi asked, and before he could complete his sentence, Kyoya threw a can of juice at him, which he dodged with ease – _the light flicker of blue dancing in his eyes almost made Kyoya blink in surprise._ "-na?"

Tsuna blushed and averted his eyes from Kyoya and just nodded in reply.

Kyoya bared his teeth threateningly at his Baby Sky and baby Rain and hissed, "I am not _cute_." He said, as if disgusted by their using of his name and the word "cute" in same sentence.

Before Takeshi could argue with him, Kyoko and Haru appeared – _is it their imagination or did Haru look a bit dejected?_ \- carrying a plate of Onigiri. "Hey there everyone!" Kyoko chirped happily. "The two of us made some Onigri in our Cooking Class. Would you like some?" she offered the others their inconsistently shaped onigiris – _some were round, some had a bit pointed end, some frankly looked as if they'd crumble if they were touched_. "I apologize if they look a bit funny." Kyoko apologized to them. "This is our first time making onigiri, so we might've messed up a bit."

"It's fine." Tsuna shook his head.

"I'm sure it tastes better than it looks!" Takeshi insisted, and earned a smack from Nagi.

"Are you suffering from foot-in-mouth disease?" Nagi sighed in exasperation.

"Ah? No, I think I'm healthy enough….?" Takeshi said in confusion as he scratched the back of his head. Nagi couldn't help but face palm at his words.

Tsuna patted her back in sympathy. Haru, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but chuckle at their antics.

"You guys are really something." She said fondly and shook her head.

Seeing her smile again relieved everyone's worries. Though they were curious about what made Haru's mood sour like that, they weren't foolish enough to outright ask her. So instead, each one of them took an onigiri from the plate – _even Kyoya who just shot the onigiri a skeptical look before stuffing it down his throat._

"Oh my!" Nagi muttered, surprised as soon as she tasted the rice balls. "It tastes really nice."

"Yeah," Tsuna chewed slowly and spoke, "It tastes just the right amount of salty."

"Give me two more!" Takeshi exclaimed as he grabbed two more and placed them in his plate.

"It's edible." Kyoya mumbled reluctantly as soon as he swallowed and took another odd-shaped onigiri from the plate.

"Really? Thanks!" Kyoko exclaimed and sat down next to Nagi, with Haru right next to her. The two of them too grabbed an onigiri and started eating. The others shared the lunch they had picked up with the two girls and soon, all of them were eating together and joking around with ease.

Kyoko had been taking a sip of tomato soup when her eyes zeroed on Kyoya's outfit, especially the Pikachu shirt of his, and complimented him, "By the way Hibari-sempai, nice shirt you've got there."

Kyoya, who had been drinking water at that moment, splattered the liquid right back out in surprise and shot her a glare at her untimely comment.

 _"Pfft- hahahaha!"_ Nagi, Tsuna and Takeshi couldn't help but roll in laughter at her words – _and Kyoya's reaction to her words only made them roar even louder in laughter_ \- as they leaned against each other and laughed – _and tried their best not to fall off the chair in their mirth._

Haru, who had only noticed Kyoya's shirt because of Kyoko's comment, agreed with Kyoko. "I totally agree with Kyoko-chan!" she then tilted her head and eyed Kyoya contemplatively and asked, "Hm….. Don't you think a Pikachu-eared headband would go spectacularly with his shirt?"

Kyoya's glare intensified at her words, and suddenly, he conjured his tonfas and pounced at the two girls, as he hissed, _"I'll bite you two to death!"_

What about Nagi, Tsuna and Takeshi? Well, the three of them couldn't control themselves before they fell off their chairs, laughing, and pounded on the floor in laughter.

 _All in all, a normal days in lives of the chibi-Vongolas._

* * *

 **EXTRA- 1**

"Look at every nook and cranny of the forest and find him for me. I do not want even a single spot left." An eight year old Byakuran ordered as he stuffed marshmallows in his mouth.

That is fine, Byakuran-sama, but…." A teenage Kikyo asked hesitantly as he eyed the vast stretch of forest surrounding Sicily on the map that had been laid down on the table. "The forest area is too big and a detailed search would definitely take a lot of time."

Byakuran waved his hand in a dismissive way and said, "It's fine since we have more than enough resources to conduct a detailed search around these parts."

"Isn't this area under Vongola's protection? We would need Nono's permission then, to conduct a search around these parts or else they'd think we're rebelling against them or something." Zakuro pointed out gruffly.

Kikyo replied to him, "Byakuran-sama had already appealed to the Vongola, and they have agreed to it –especially when Aria-sama of the Giglio-nero backed his proposal." He then muttered under his breath, "But I do wonder why Aria-sama agreed to Byakuran-sama's proposal so quickly?"

Bykuran chuckled. "Well, that's because she just wants to show a good impression to her soon-to-be 'cousins'."

"Pardon, Byakuran-sama? I do not understand…." Kikyo asked, confused, while Zakuro just scratched the back of his head, puzzled.

"You'll understand it when the time comes!" Byakuran said cheerily. He then blinked and looked around in contemplation, "By the way, where are Bluebell and Daisy?"

"What the-? They were here a moment ago, I swear!" Zakuro cursed as he turned around and found that the resident kiddos of their bunch were absent.

Kikyo sighed and said "I'll bring them back, Byakuran-sama." saying this he walked out of the room, and a few minutes later came back dragging Daisy – _who looked his usual fearful self_ \- and Bluebell as the latter glared at the back of Kikyo's head and pouted sulkily – _the leftover cookie crumbs around her mouth clearly hinted what she had been doing a while ago_.

"Ne, ne Bluebell-chan, am I _really_ boring you so much that you dare to skip the meeting to eat cookies?" Byakuran asked with a grin, though the dark look in his eyes made his guardians flinch. Byakuran pouted. _Aw, they really were no fun_. In that other world if other-Byakuran had such an expression on his face Yuni-chan would've smacked the back of his head in exasperation while Tsu-chan would've shoved marshmallows into his mouth and demand him to stop messing around. But in _this_ world, Yuni-chan hasn't been born yet, while Tsu-chan of this world would rather be busy pining over his 'Cloud-san' than to pay him any attention.

 _Aw man… He was clearly feeling neglected._

Bluebell averted her eyes and grumbled in apology, and well, Byakuran guessed that's as far as he should take it for now. Their Guardian bond is a fledgling thing, and it will take some time for them to get to know him. Unlike him – _who knew about their habits and quirks thanks to the knowledge of Parallel Worlds_ \- they knew nothing about him. Who knows how much time it will take for them to realize that this particular expression on his face only means that he's messing around with them and is not genuinely upset?

And while his Guardians take all the time they can to get to know him, he guessed he should use this time to do what he does best - _messing around with the world, causing mayhem, egging on Tsu-chan knowing or unknowingly_ –

-Ahem, he means visiting his favorite Mafia Boss – _chibified, for now_ \- and mess around with his precious 'Cloud-san' for now, that is.

But to do that he'd have to get the tenth Generation's mascot, for starters –as a sort of peace offering.

(Pfft, what were you thinking? Did you seriously think that Kyo-chan would just let him meet his Tsu-chan _without_ the usual biting him to death? _What are you high on, dear readers?_

… Maybe he should stop breaking the fourth wall so casually. Writer-san is looking pretty pissed for a while now.)

….And now he's digressing. Where had he been, anyways?

"…I just don't see the need to do all this." A six year old Bluebell grumbled as she gestured towards the map spread over the table and the others surrounding it.

Byakuran's lips twitched at her words. it's not that he's patronizing her or anything, it's just…. her serious tone clashed so horribly with her chibi self – _with baby fat clinging to her limbs_ \- and the cookie crumbs over her mouth only added to the hilarity. He stuffed more marshmallows in his mouth to suppress his giggles and turned towards Daisy as he nodded, as if agreeing to Bluebell's words. While Kikyo and Zakuro exchanged an uneasy glance, and finally Kikyo asked with a bow, "Forgive me, Byakuran-sama, but Bluebell has a point. What are we looking for anyways?"

"Yeah, what idjit thing is so precious that you won't hesitate to waste money - _as if it were paper_ \- in it's hasty search in such a vast stretch of forest around Sicily, Byakuran-sama?" Zakuro grumbled.

"Don't say 'what' or 'it'. Say 'who' we're looking." Byakuran said cheerfully. The four of them leaned forward a bit in curiosity, and the chibi Mare Sky finally quelled their curiosity. "We're looking for a bird, actually."

 _That…_ had not been what they were expecting.

 _"A bird?"_ The four of them deadpanned in unison.

"Yup! And not just any bird, mind you." Byakuran notified them with a grin, "After all, Hibird-chan is not just any bird. He's _Kyoya's_ bird, and that makes him someone under Tsu-chan's protection, which means I can get a chance to worm into their group- _and mess around for shits and giggles_ -much, _much_ earlier than my other selves. Yay! Go, me!" Byakura cheered.

(Somewhere in the Future!cannon Parallel World, Vongola Decimo Sawada Tsunayoshi felt a chill run down his spine, and wondered if Reborn was plotting something again for his Intuition to go haywire like this. Or maybe it's Mukuro this time. or maybe Byakuran.

Who knows? He can never tell with those three.)

* * *

 **EXTRA 2-**

Hibird abruptly woke up from his sleep and scanned around his surroundings with his beady eyes warily. His instincts were screaming **DangerdangerdangerdangerdanGER-!** which was ridiculous. Nothing was wrong, at least. His so-called parents were resting some distance away from him in the nest, cuddling with their newly hatched chicks, as they wrapped their wings around the chicks in a protective embrace, while he stayed away from them. A few crickets chirped at night, and there might be an owl or two who hooted in the middle of the night, but there was no danger around him –he'd know, after all, he had lived with is human who was the epitome of everything _ViolentPeriliousDangerous **Predator**_ \- and hence become highly attuned to danger.

-Which is why it was so weird that everything was fine. Because if nothing was wrong, then why did he feel a chill ran down his spine? Why were his instincts screaming that somehow he would end up as a sacrificial offering under someone's schemes?

….Maybe it's just because of the hunger pangs. He must be delirious.

So, shrugging off the weird sensation, he fluffed his feathers, closed his eyes and went back to sleep. it must've been a false alarm anyways.

(He would regret that later. _Definitely._ )

* * *

 **Omake-**

 ** _the Godparent Question, Pt. 1_**

When Fon entered the Meeting hall that day, he immediately knew that something was definitely wrong and wondered if he should just turn right back and walk out. But in the end he just shrugged it off and continued walking in the room. Whether it was because of the solemn atmosphere that hung over his fellow Arcobaleno as they glared at each other – _more like Colonello, Lal, Skull and Verde had ganged up on Reborn and Viper who paid them no mind_ \- or maybe it was because of the presence of another person who was attending this meeting for the first time in months –unlike them who had been meeting on and off these few years, _and most of the time it was because of the shenanigans that ensued because of the mention of Kyoya and Nagi._

(Huh… Now to think of it, they had always wasted most of their time in their meetings in these past few months talking about nothing else but the ( _supposed_ ) love affair between Fon, Reborn and Viper and their ( _obviously not real_ ) children, and hence they hadn't gotten any work done these few months. No wonder Aria had to put her foot down to finally visit them and give them a piece of her mind.

…Thank goodness he had been absent during _that_ particular lecture. He would never, _eve_ r dis Iemitsu ever again because that man had indirectly saved him from the ultimate torture he'd have definitely suffered from if he too had been unfortunate enough to be present in the Arcobaleno mansion during Aria's visit.

Hm… maybe as thanks he should ease his negotiations **–*cough*** _harassment *_ **cough*** \- against Iemitsu for trying to force bond on _his precious little sister?_ …Never mind, he'll just treat Lal a few drinks on Iemitsu's behalf.

No way is he going to go easy on that asshole who dared to force Sky bond on his sister _whose flames were sealed-!_ )

"Aria, fancy meeting you here." Fon nodded as he greeted the Sky Arcobaleno, who smiled at him in turn and shifted her big belly to sit comfortably – _Colonello offered a pillow to ease her comfort and the pregnant woman thanked him softly_ \- and he tilted his head and asked, "I thought you went back to Giglio-nero Headquarters?"

"Ah, I was going to go, but I was stopped because of some…. _pressing_ issues." Aria shrugged.

"Oh? And what could those issues be?" Fon asked calmly as he made his way to the meeting table and sat next to Aria.

"Listen Fon, and _listen well_ , coz I won't repeat this again. This is a matter of life and death, kora." Colonello said in a solemn tone, and Fon tensed, wondering what had happened. Did something happen while he had been _harassing_ \- ahem, _negotiating_ with the CEDEF? Why hadn't he been informed of it, then? Colonello stared at Fon with a serious expression, making the Storm Arcobaleno uneasily lean forward a bit."Fon, my friend, we _cannot_ put this off any longer." Colonello then spoke in an entirely serious tone – _devoid of any humor_ -

.

.

.

"You _have to_ choose one of us as godparents for your children, kora."

Fon's calm façade cracked a bit and a vein throbbed over his forehead as he couldn't help but glare at the Rain Arcobaleno, _"Are you serious?!"_

Colonello nodded seriously. "One-hundred percent sure."

Fon resisted the urge to throw his hands up in the air in exasperation and annoyance. _By Trinisette, they can't be serious_. **_This_** _was the serious issue they had to discuss with him?!_ He had thought something really serious had happened –like that Vongola's cradle affair that had happened a few years ago. He had been so worried, and it all turned out for naught.

He was so _done_ with them. _Fucking idiots, the lot of them._

Fon resisted the urge to roll his eyes at their stupidity and glanced at the others, wondering if they too were feeling as incredulous as he was feeling at that moment, only to stare dumbfounded as the others – _except Aria who was trying her best to smother her giggles (and failing spectacularly at that)-_ too stared back at him with utmost solemn attitude –as if what Colonello had said hadn't been some ridiculous shit and was actually something legit and worrying issue.

"Are you all high on something?" He couldn't help but quip when he saw that they were entirely serious.

"Don't joke around Fon, this is a serious matter." Reborn said solemnly. "This will affect the future of our children, how can you take it so lightly?" He admonished Fon.

"Are you _seriously_ going to pretend that you really had children with me and Viper?" Fon asked in disbelief.

"What's the use of denying? It's not like they'll listen anyways, since these morons suffer from selective hearing. Besides, I like my child." Reborn said with a smirk. "See? The boy isn't even here and is _still_ somehow causing chaos with his mere name. I wonder how much chaos he can cause in person…? He's truly worthy of being my son." Reborn said smugly.

"I feel that as long as I stay in your company my sanity will be chipped away even faster." Fon deadpanned.

Reborn waved his hand dismissively, "Why would you need sanity anyways? it's so _overrated."_

Fon sighed in exasperation and turned to Viper, "And why are _you_ still going through with this nonsense?"

"It's good for business." Viper said with a shrug.

"Of course." Fon groaned. "Why did I even ask?"

"Are you done?" Lal asked impatiently. "We don't have all day, you know."

"Yeah!" Skull exclaimed. "Tell them Fon, that I'm the Godfather of your children!"

"Get lost, lackey!" Colonello exclaimed in annoyance as he kicked Skull away, making the Cloud fly from his seat and smash into a wall that crumbled on impact. "How _dare_ you hog the Godfather rights all alone, kora? Obviously, _I'm_ going to be their godfather."

Verde pushed his glasses up his nose and stared at Colonello with a sharp glint in his eyes. " _Excuse me?_ I thought we agreed to leave it to the _actual parents_ to decide who'll be the suitable godparents for little Nagi and Kyoya."

Lal scoffed. "Like hell they'd chose you as a godfather, Verde. You and your mad Science are obviously a hazard for children's health, Verde."

"You're the one to talk." Verde retorted. "You can't even fight for the god _father_ rights, because of something as trivial as your gender."

Lal smirked. "Which is why my position as the Godmother is obviously fixed, being the only female among the Cursed infants. _Lucky~"_

"If Lal will be godmother, then it's obvious that I am the right choice for Godfather!" Colonello boasted, and in turn earned the ire of Lal and Verde with his thoughtless comment.

"What are you implying, huh, lackey?" Lal glowered at him and hit him with the back of her rifle.

"Don't count chickens before they hatch." Verde shot him a stink eye and zapped him with lightning flames.

Fon groaned when he saw the argument getting worse – _and even Rebon and Viper joined them some time later_ \- and before he knew it they had started brawling in the Meeting Hall. He couldn't help but face-palm. Why did their meetings always ends up in a brawl?

Fon turned to the _only_ sane person among this bunch of morons who wasn't participating in the brawl – _not that she could in her pregnant state_ \- and even had the authority – _as the present Sky Arcobaleno_ \- to stop this nonsense before it escalated further.

 _"Aria, Help!"_ Fon mouthed to her desperately, but Aria just waved off his concerns with a smile on her face.

"Oh, let this continue for a while. I haven't had this much fun _in years_!" Aria chuckled. "Let me laugh at your expense for a while. Don't you know that laughter is good for pregnant ladies?" Aria giggled. She then patted her big tummy and cooed fondly, "See Yuni-chan, your Great Uncles and Aunt are _so funny_ , aren't they?"

The foetus kicked inside her belly, as if agreeing with her. Aria couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

 **A/N:-Byakuran is a manipulative asshole who likes to break the Fourth wall. Fon is still in denial. Aria is so amused with the Arcobaleno's antics and is wondering why the heck she hadn't joined them sooner. Viper is in for the money, while Reborn is only there because of the chaos the sheer mention of Kyoya's name causes. Colonello, Lal, Verde –and Skull- are the three stooges (plus one) whose only purpose of existence in this fic –for now- is to provide humor to the fic.**

 **All in all, a normal update like usual. (Lol.)**

 **A-Ahem. so... Reviews? Anyone?**


	17. Quaintrelle

_**~Quaintrelle~**_

 _A female dandy. A woman who emphasizes a life of passion as expressed through her personal style, chosen pastimes, and cultivated demeanor_

 **~O~**

"You said you'd be here by the evening!" Suzuki glowered at the younger woman who looked unrepentant. Instead, the other woman just ruffled her short hair and snorted.

"No, _you_ said that. I said at the earliest I'll be at _Tokyo_ by the evening! Do you even know how much I was rushed because _someone_ was being an impatient little shit?!" Light purple eyes flashed in annoyance as the short haired woman shot the older woman an unimpressed look.

"Why, _you-!_ " Suzuki hissed as she let out an aggrieved noise and held her hands in a manner that suggested that she was this close to strangling the younger woman to death, which only made the other woman roll her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough, you two! Stop bickering like little kids." Nayuki announced as he stood between the two of them, and tried to calm them down. "Suzuki-san, why don't you re-check the menu for the evening with the kitchen staff? And Hikari-san," He then turned towards the short haired woman and said, "-if I remember correctly, you have a class this evening, right?"

The younger woman froze. "You can't be serious!" She exclaimed in annoyance as she let her hand run through her short locks. "You do know that jet lag is a thing, right? Can you not rain check that thing, for like, tomorrow? It's not like I'm going anywhere for the time being."

Suzuki snorted. "Says the woman who left in the middle of her University exams to explore China _just because she felt like it._ "

Hikari glared at the older woman, ad sneered, "Not my fault someone had failed the tests because they were dependent on me to let them cheat in the exams."

"I will strangle you with my bare hands, _you little shit-"_

Nayuki finally snapped at their childish argument and hissed threateningly, "Oh for Gods' sake, _shut the fuck up_ and get to work you two, or else I'll put you two on babysitting duty of kindergarten kids for a whole week, and that too _together._ "

The two paled at his words and immediately excused themselves. "A-Ah, I should check into the kitchen for the dinner's menu." Suzuki mumbled as she chuckled sheepishly and inched towards the door.

"I remember, I have a bunch of brats to handle right now! Toodles, Na-kun!" Hikari too exclaimed as she rushed towards the door.

"What about your jet-lag?" A volunteer from the nearby Kokuyo district called out to Hikari.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Hikari quipped shamelessly as she once again butted heads with Suzuki, but this time they kept their voices low as they argued about who should get out of the door first.

The staff all stared at the bickering duo in speechless silence.

"Looking at them like that, who'd say that those two had been best friends once upon a time?" One of Nayuki's colleague from Namimori North Elementary sighed in exasperation as he watched the two of them shove each other as they got out of the staffroom.

"Who says that they aren't best friends even now?" Nayuki mumbled wryly, his previous anger forgotten in face of the hilariously annoying bickering of his friends.

"….Ah?"

* * *

Kyoya yawned once again, leaning against the tree trunk on one of the lower branches of the tree as he watched the crowd of baby herbivores chattering excitedly about what exciting thing they would be doing in this Extreme Sports Class. Not many kids had taken part in this activity, considering not all kids were that brave or adventurous, and also the fact that not many of their peers wanted to do something they have never even heard about. So, including Kyoya, there were about seven children who had signed up for extreme sport, and not one of them was a girl. A shame really, considering Kyoya knew very well that girls were not any lesser than boy in being adventurous – _after all, being surrounded by women like Lal, Bianchi, Chrome and I-Pin, one does not look down on women without suffering the holy wrath of those crazy women, and believe him, the three of them gave the phrase "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" a whole new level, in terms of suffering, that is_. Even though there weren't as much baby herbivores in this class as compared to other activities, they were still enough to be called a crowd. And needless to say, this displeased Hibari Kyoya very much. Especially since their teacher was _late_.

He swore, if this teacher turned out to be another fake-herbivore, then _blood will be shed_.

"Yo, brats! You all sure look quite excited for this class, huh?" Kyoya blinked and turned toward the source of the voice that has disturbed his musing, and raised his brow when he saw a woman walk toward their group of children with a mischievous grin on her face. Her dark brown hair was cropped short, and her eyes were a light purple shade, that seemed darker in shadow. She had a petite nose and oval face and he wore a silver earring in her right ear that made Kyoya narrow his eyes. She wore a tank top and shorts, and hung a whistle over her neck. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her toned body and the light muscle around her limbs – _or what he could judge from her exposed skin around the thighs and her arms_ \- and the way she walked helped him conclude that either the woman was into sports, or that she could hold herself in a fight.

Kyoya quirked the corner of his lip lightly upwards as his eyes flashed with unknown intent.

Many of the boy blushed at the sight of the pretty lady, which only seemed to amuse the woman further. The woman shook her head and stepped forward. "Gather around, everyone!" She called out to them. "My name is Onigashima Hikari and I will be your Extreme Sports Trainer. I will also take Parkour Classes, so if any of your friends have joined Parkour activities then please inform them, 'kay?"

The kids mumbled among themselves and nodded. Hikari clapped her hands twice and exclaimed, "Great! Now that the introduction's over, let's move on to our first activity! Today, we'll be doing something quite exciting! Guess what?" She cheered, "We'll be doing Rock Climbing today!"

The children immediately started chattering, discussing whether Hikari-Sensei will take them somewhere dangerous in the forest for rock climbing, and should they really go or not? What if it turned out to be dangerous and they get hurt?

"Che, don't be such party poopers now." Hikari rolled her eyes, "I chose the easiest one for the first activity, ya know. Plus, it's totally safe, since we'll be doing it in a controlled environment, and not somewhere in the forest. It's getting so late, and if we perform rock climbing either in the forests or in the mountains at this time, not only would you really get hurt –or worse, maimed- but that damn Suzuki would never let me live it down. So, yup, we'll be doing it nice and safe. Happy now?"

Kyoya resisted the urge to snort. Really, who gave this woman the permission to teach kids?

"Alright then, follow me!" the woman exclaimed and herded the children towards the back of the main building. Kyoya followed behind the crowd of baby herbivores (plus the carnivore woman) in a sedate pace and eyed the structure created artificially for their rock climbing. A huge wall – _the size of a two-storey building_ \- stood before them, embedded with small artificial rocks scattered all over it. On the top of the wall was attached a platform where stood Nayuki-Sensei, discussing something with another man – _definitely a technical staff_ \- while re-checking all the mechanisms once again.

The woman gestured towards the artificial rock-embedded wall and said, "We'll use this prop for rock climbing." She pointed at the artificial rocks attached on the wall and said, "The rocks are sturdy, so don't be afraid that you'll fall. Besides, I don't think you should be worried about falling down because we'll equip you with all the safety gears, and we also have two teachers and a technical staff watching over this activity. We've also invited the Campus' Doctor –that's the one-" She pointed towards a greyish haired young man in spectacles who gave the children a polite smile, and continued on, "-to supervise your climbing, so don't be afraid of breaking any bones, 'kay?!" she exclaimed cheerily, to which the young doctor just sighed as the children – _except Kyoya_ -cringed at her words.

"Hikari-san, that is no way to speak to a child." The Doctor said to her.

" _Psch_ , no one asked for your opinion, Baka-gami." Hikari snorted.

Before Dr. Kagami could retort, Nayuki-Sensei yelled at them from the platform, " Oi Hikari! Are you instigating the good doctor again?"

"Nope!" The woman shamelessly denied.

Nayuki just gave her a very unimpressed look from above. Hikari just cleared her throat and said to the kids, "So, just like I said, there's no need to worry! You are all here to enjoy your Camp, and learn something new. That's why, do enjoy these thrilling activities, 'kay? They're not as scary as they would actually seem to you."

Seeing the unbelieving looks of the kids, Hikari sighed and said calmly, "Okay then, let's do it like this. All I want you to do is to at least try it for once. It doesn't matter if you can't reach the top platform of the rock climbing, or get cold feet in the midst of it- all I want to see is your participation." She told them, "While trying, if you think you can't climb on anymore and want to quit, we'll take you down that very moment, 'kay?"

The kids all shared a look, and then nodded hesitantly.

The grin on Hikari's face brightened. "Good!" She clapped. "So, let's get this show on the road! Oh, I know-!" She snapped her fingers as a thought occurred to her, "I'll go first and show you how it's done, 'kay?"

Without waiting for anyone's consent, she walked towards the artificial structure, and dismissed the technical staff that had come to her to make her wear the protective gear. "I don't need that!" She declared, "This rock climbing done in such a safe and controlled environment is much tame compared to the hazardous things I usually do."

"You can't be serious'!" Dr. Kagami pinched the bridge of his nose as he watched her start climbing without wearing any protective gear, "You're a bad influence on the kids!" The Doctor said to her in exasperation, "You're supposed to make these children interested in Sports, _not_ scare them away with your craziness!"

"Don't try this at home kids! At least, not without any sane adult's supervision!" Hikari said cheerily, ignoring Kagami's words as she climbed swiftly, reaching from rock to rock, and made her way upwards. Her every action was natural, as if she had done it countless times. Watching her reach from rock to rock and climb upwards reminded Kyoya of a monkey's swiftness in climbing from tree to tree. A few minutes later, Kyoya found himself staring at the short haired woman in intrigue, as she climbed over the topmost platform and waved cheerily to the kids while ducking before Nayuki could smack the back of her head for her impulsive actions.

Hikari then climbed down again via the artificial rocks – _all the while ignoring Nayuki's curses who insisted her to either use the staircase behind the wall or let the technical staff let her down with the help of ropes and hanging gear_ \- and finally stood before the seven kids while brushing off dust from her tank top, and asked them, "So, who's first?"

The kids – _minus Kyoya, who stood at the very back_ \- all gulped nervously and took a step back.

"Aww," she pouted disappointedly, "No one? Come on!" she whined, "Don't be such cowards!" Kyoya twitched at her words. "I thought you were the braver ones among other kids, since you all chose Extreme Sports of your own will! Or was I wrong?" She taunted, "Are you all just scared-y cats?" A vein twitched over Kyoya's forehead. "Just a few useless sheep among other herbivores in a herd, huh?" She taunted.

 _Crack-!_

The other kids jumped and shrunk their necks in fear as they watched Kyoya smack a hole in the trunk of the tree he was leaning against with his tonfa, and glowered at the short haired woman who just raised her brows at him. He narrowed his eyes, and hissed like a disgruntled cat, _"I'm no herbivore."_

"Of course not," The woman agreed, "If I remember my High School Science correctly, then I don't think rodents are actually herbivores, little _Pi-ka-chu~"_ She said in a sing-song tone, eying Kyoya's Pikachu shirt in amusement, that only made the older Hibari boy puff up in annoyance.

Kyoya resisted the urge to grab his tonfas and attack the carnivore, reminding himself that he isn't like his child self who used to pick up fights with opponents in impulsiveness. He wasn't a lone wolf anymore, he had his Baby Sky and little sister looking up at his every actions, and he did not want them to learn bad things from him. Not everyone could pick a fight with a carnivore – _like him_ -and come on top. He can't let them impulsiveness and sadistically violent tendencies from his actions, especially against other carnivores who'd sooner kick their asses than tolerate their impulsive actions.

(Unknown to him, that ship has sailed past long ago. 'Cause the moment Hibari Kyoya walked into the lives of Tsuna, Nagi, and everyone else, he has become a gold standard for the Baby Sky and the Mist –and every other person that associates with them. ) 

So, instead of attacking the carnivore woman, Kyoya instead opted to be the bigger person as he shot the woman a glare before marching towards the artificial rock climbing wall. He let the staff make him wear the protective gear, and after shooting it a disdainful look, he started climbing with practiced ease. Being a child of nine years, his limbs obviously weren't as long as compared to a grown woman, but what Hibari Kyoya did have was a lithe, flexible body and a lot of cloud flames at his disposable, which made it easy for him to reach to the artificial rocks with a few jumps and well placed footing. Unbothered with the gazes of the people on the ground boring on his back, he climbed the artificial setting like a pro, and reached the top in no time. He glanced back to look at Hikari smugly, only for his temper to flare when he saw her raising her eyes provocatively, as if saying that what he had done was no big deal. His hackles raised, and the thin thread of Kyoya's restraint – _or whatever was left of it_ \- snapped, and Kyoya finally gave into his impulsiveness. And before Nayuki-Sensei and the technical staff could attach the hanging gear to him, Kyoya immediately threw the suffocating protective gear and jumped off the platform – _much to everyone's horror._

Two boys burst into tears seeing Kyoya's jump, while a few others had screamed. Dr. Kagami _moved_ , and even Hikari herself had immediately rushed forward to grab him before he could splat against the ground, but Kyoya had avoided her by spinning in midair and landed on his feet.

The moment his – _Cloud Flames augmented_ \- feet impacted with the ground, it stung him a big, but he shrugged the stinging pain off, and glared at the people crowding around him.

"What were you thinking?!" Dr. Kagami exclaimed as he rushed towards Kyoya and fussed at him. "You shouldn't be so impulsive!" The Doctor scolded him. "You could've gotten hurt, Hibari-kun! You aren't suicidal, are you?"

Nayuki-sensei and the technical staff immediately got down from the stairs behind the artificial rock embedded wall, and got near him, anxious to make sure if Kyoya was unhurt. Hikari was staring at him with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Kyoya smacked away the hand of the fussy doctor and backed away from him. "Don't touch me, fake-herbivore!" He hissed at the doctor, and then glowered at the others, daring them to approach him or else get bitten to death. The kids hesitated, while the adults still advanced forwards, their worry winning over whatever fear Kyoya had managed to beat into them earlier. Scoffing, Kyoya looked Hikari straight in the eyes and declared, "I repeat, I am _no_ herbivore. The next time you make me say that again, carnivore or not, _I'll bite you to death."_

After warning the woman, Kyoya decided that he was done for the day. So he turned and walked away briskly, ignoring the adults demanding him to come back and get his check-up done so they could ensure that he really was alright, and hadn't hurt himself with his suicidal stunts.

A pair of eyes darkened as they watched the back of the older Hibari child walking away, and a grin spread across Hikari's lips, "Damn, this kid is _definitely something…"_

* * *

It wasn't long before the news of Kyoya's crazy stunt spread around the camp. Tsuna – _who had been enjoying his first assignment of Photography Class about clicking a few pictures of nature_ \- dropped his class in the middle in worry and rushed back to their room in search of Kyoya. He was joined by Takeshi, Haru and Kyoko as soon as he walked past the cafeteria, and without even knocking he slammed the doors open and entered the room in haste-

 _-only to freeze at the sight of Kyoya and Nagi having a fierce argument._

"-but why did you have to jump from such a height?! Do you think you're so invincible that you will not get hurt at all, Onii-sama?!" Nagi argued.

Kyoya snorted and shot her a look that said _'Are you an idiot?'_ He commented flippantly, "I am _Hibari Kyoya."_

Nagi hissed, "That's it? That's your answer to every single stupid thing you do, without thinking that we might get worried?"

("Uh…" Takeshi's ever-present grin faltered a bit. "Should we interfere?"

His stupid question earned him flat looks from the three of them.

"Are you an idiot?" Haru asked incredulously. 

"If you interfere, they'll turn their ire on you. I don't think that's a good idea." Kyoko explained.

"Cloud-san and Mist-chan don't usually fight, but when they do, it's _not_ pretty." Tsuna said quietly. "Make sure not to come in their line of sight during their fight, or else you'll have to deal with not one, but _two_ irate Hibaris, and I assure you from my prior experience, that it is not a good thing."

The other three took his words to heart and tried to shrink their presence as they shuffled to a corner of the room, and away from their line of sight.)

"What are you getting angry for?" Kyoya pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "It's not like I would get hurt by jumping from such a short height."

 _"Short height?!"_ Nagi's usually soft voice turned high pitched as she glared scathingly. "You jumped from a height of Seventeen Point Five feet _without any protective gear!_ How would I know if you're hurt or not when you refuse to visit the doctor!"

Disdain flashed in Kyoya's eyes. "I will not visit any doctor, especially that fake-herbivore." He declared.

Nagi told him. "Stop being difficult or I'll complain to Kaa-san."

Kyoya glared at her. "You _wouldn't_."

 _"I will."_ She titled her chin up and glared back at him.

("Oh boy….." Tsuna mumbled as he let his head fall in his hands.

"Hahi!" Haru squeaked. "This argument is getting a bit out of hand, don't you think?"

Kyoko nodded nervously. "It is."

"But this also proves that Nagi really loves her brother, huh," Takeshi pointed out, "Since she cares so much for his well-being that the usual soft-spoken girl is even arguing fiercely with her brother for it." 

Haru and Kyoko shared a look. "That seems to be true." Kyoko mumbled.

"I didn't think of it that way." Haru admitted.)

Tsuna just shook his head fondly when he heard their words, but the smile on his face was soon wiped off when he saw Kyoya materializing his tonfas and glowering challengingly at Nagi. His sister didn't back down, instead, with a flicker of indigo Flames a trident appeared in her hands and she crouched a bit, as if preparing to fight him.

("Hahi! Where did those weapons come from?!" Haru exclaimed. "That looks dangerous!"

"Ahaha! I think that pretty fire has something to do with it!" Takeshi spoke with a grin on his face, though no one noticed the slight flash of light blue in his narrowed eyes.

"What pretty fire?" Kyoko wondered.)

Tsuna _moved_ as soon as the other two begun to attack, and before the Hibari Siblings could hurt each other, Tsuna grabbed the smooth surface of Kyoya's tonfa and Nagi's trident with each of his hand.

"Get out of my way, Baby Omnivore." Kyoya hissed at him.

"Yes Orange-san, this has nothing to do with you." Nagi said calmly, though the way her indigo eyes glittered furiously betrayed her calm exterior.

Tsuna's eyes flashed orange as he said, "That is _enough_ , you two. At least look at the place and timing before you fight. Remember that we aren't the only ones here."

Nagi's shoulders tensed at his words, and she turned her eyes and finally noticed her other three friends in a corner of the room, eying them nervously – _though she really didn't like the look in Blue-san's eyes. He looked like a predator watching something fascinating, and it was a look that looked quite jarring on Blue-san's always smiling face. She was quite unsettled by it_. Pursuing her lips unhappily, she lowered the trident in her hands and backed off. She then took a deep breath and glared at Kyoya, "Onii-sama, will you, or will you not visit a doctor today for at least a check-up?" She asked with gritted teeth.

Kyoya scoffed. "No way."

"Then so be it." She hissed and stormed out of the boys' room, and Kyoko and Haru hesitantly followed after her a moment later.

Kyoya took back his tonfas and walked towards his bunk bed, ignoring the disapproving looks Tsuna sent him.

"What?" He glared at his Baby Sky, who tilted his head and asked-

"You're not going to apologize to her, are you?"

Kyoya's glare intensified, as if that was even possible.

Tsuna sighed. "Just so you know, you're wrong this time, Cloud-san. You really worried us a lot this time, and now you're being even more difficult than usual by refusing check-up. Can you not for once put down your ego and make us worry less?"

A hurt look flashed in Kyoya's grey eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it had appeared, making Tsuna wonder if he had actually imagined it. But when his own orange fire pinged a bit, he realized that he had spoken a bit out of turn, and had missed some important detail during this whole argument. Before he could clarify with Kyoya, the ravenette had already disappeared out of the door, and this time Tsuna didn't need his intuition to know that Kyoya is pissed right now and will definitely not return back tonight.

Tsuna groaned as he let his head fall in his hands. "I'm such an idiot…." he mumbled under his breath sadly.

Takeshi walked towards Tsuna and patted his back. "Don't worry Tsuna! I'm sure everything will be fine."

Tsuna blinked and glanced up at him. "Are you sure?"

Takeshi nodded. "Yup."

* * *

Haru and Kyoko hesitantly walked into their room, and looked at Nagi in concern as she sat on her bed on the lowest bunk and pulled a cushion tight in her embrace as she buried her head into it. The two girls shared a look, before Haru gestured Kyoko to approach Nagi.

"You should come too!" Kyoko insisted.

Haru shook her head, "You know her longer than I do, and we have only met yesterday. I don't think it's appropriate." Kyoko tried to argue, but Haru cut her off, "I'll just be outside for a while, 'kay? Call me if you need anything." She then eyed Nagi's curled up form on the lowest bunk bed and hesitantly mumbled, "Just….. Just take care of the bipolar menace, okay?" saying this, she quickly got out of the room and closed the door shut behind her, leaving Kyoko alone with a downtrodden Nagi.

Kyoko sighed and approached the indigo haired girl cautiously, "Um….. Nagi-chan?" She asked hesitantly, "Are you alright?"

Nagi buried her head deeper into the fluffy cushion – _as if that was even possible_ \- and shook her head.

Kyoko sat next to Nagi and patted her back soothingly, "You know, you can talk to me, right? I'm your friend, you can share your worries with me. I promise I won't tell anyone. Besides, sometimes it's better to let it all out than to keep everything in and suffocate with the weight of your thoughts."

Nagi mumbled something in reply, but her words weren't clear as they were muffled since her face was still buried in the cushion.

"Nagi-chan…?" Kyoko question, and finally, Nagi lifted her head from the pillow and glared at Kyoko with angry tears in her eyes.

"I just- I don't understand! Why is Onii-sama always doing things like that and expecting us to not worry?!" She yelled in frustration. Tugging her indigo strands a bit harshly, she hissed in annoyance, "He is always picking up fights with people who are older and way stronger than him, and he doesn't even think that we'll worry about him whenever he does things like that! I try to be nonchalant about it, but for all I pretend to not care about my brother's violent tendencies, I do worry about his wellbeing! Because of his love for fighting stronger opponent, he's always hurt in one way or another!"

"It's not like I'm asking him to stop. I just want to make sure that he doesn't get hurt unnecessarily." Tears spilled from her cheeks and she whispered, "Is that too much to ask?"

 _"No."_ Kyoko's resolute voice snapped Nagi out of her trance. Nagi blinked her watery eyes as Kyoko side-hugged the girl and whispered, "You're not wrong. It's Hibari-sempai who is wrong. He shouldn't pick fights like that, that's wrong."

"That's not-" _what I meant…._ \- Nagi wanted to say that, but in the end she changed her words, "You don't get it! You don't know-"

"I know Nagi-chan….." Kyoko whispered under her breath with a faraway look in her eyes. "I know. Because my older brother, too, is just like that."

"And I hate it." She grimaced. "I hate it when he picks up fights with others and get hurt in the process." she then looked up at Nagi and insisted, "So I know what you're going through, Nagi-chan. And it really doesn't get better."

Kyoko closed her eyes and sighed sadly, her shoulders sagged as she mumbled, "All you can do is to smile and pretend that everything's fine, even though you know it's not."

.

* * *

Unfortunately, things didn't get better even by the next day. True to Tsuna's intuition, Kyoya hadn't returned back to their room the whole night, and had spent the night patrolling around the camp to calm his irritation. He had returned at dawn, and that too to take a shower, before he joined the Parkour Class along with Yamamoto and Tsuna. Takeshi tried to ease the tension by cracking jokes, but Kyoya's mood was already bad and nothing eased his irritable mood. Tsuna did apologize to him for his impulsive words yesterday, but Kyoya only nodded at him before he left them to their own devices as he picked up his pace and jumped from tree to tree.

"Come on, brats! Show some energy!" The woman cackled as she urged the kids to keep a better grip so as not to fall on the ground. "Don't forget the reward! The one who finishes the route in record time and reaches the camp first gets to eat the largest scoop of chocolate chip ice-cream!"

There were two other adults supervising their parkour, knowing that Hikari was too much of an adrenaline junkie and hence shouldn't be trusted to supervise the children _alone_ , especially when most kids here were beginners at parkour. So, while Hikari handled the experienced kids – _and especially one demon child of Namimori who was rather quite irritated this morning_ \- they were tasked to keep an eye on the beginners.

"Don't mind her." One of the adults waved her comment off and jogged towards a kid who somehow got stuck on a branch of a short – _but dense_ \- tree. He helped the kid down and spoke to the others, "She's just had too much sugar this morning, and needs to wear it all off."

"It wasn't really Suzuki's brightest idea to dump that much amount of sugar in Hikari's coffee." the other man grumbled as he bandaged another poor kid's sprained leg who had jumped off the rocky terrain on wrong foot.

The former eyed the panting- _and mostly wounded and exhausted_ \- kids scattered around the clearing. Among the sixteen children who took part in parkour, six had gotten scratches and wounds from rough landings, three had gotten sprains- _and there was even a boy who hit his head hard enough and fainted_. Almost every child here was exhausted as they tried to keep up with their insane mentor and her competitor – _another demon of his own right_ \- and other than the older Hibari child, there were only four other kids who were gutsy enough to still keep on this activity despite being exhausted to the bones. Two of them were twins who have been doing parkour for about two years, and hence were somehow able to keep up with their insane teacher. The third one was one Yamamoto Takeshi who, even while panting like crazy, had a happy grin on his face, as if enjoying this hard-paced task. Considering what they remembered Takeshi as an outgoing baseball layer, it wasn't that surprising to see him doing so well in this activity since the kid already had enough experience in sports to not falter in this exercise. What was surprising was the brunette at the very end of their trail, who sweated heavily and gasped deep breaths as he followed the normal parkour route. Sometimes, the kid would halt for a while, and just when they would think that the child had had enough and was going to quit, then the fluffy brown haired boy would glance up at the trees – _and stare at the irate Hibari child jumping trees like a pro_ \- and his eyes would flash amber before he would take a deep breath and continued on with the activity.

Hikari exclaimed that the kids were gutsy enough to try to keep up with her. The two of them just thought that these kids were masochists.

The man sighed and sent a text back to Nayuki to send some more people from staff to carry the injured kids. "Kagami is going to _kill_ us." He grumbled under his breath.

"No," The other man scoffed, "He's a smart man. He'll kill the crazy menace off. He will just spare us knowing that we too are the victims here. After all, we're not the ones who are childish enough to compete against a nine year old - _who happens to be the demon child of Namimori_. "

As if on cue, the woman's enraged screams rang around the woods, and the two of them turned towards the source of noise, wondering what had made their resident menace outraged this time.

"You damn brat!" the woman howled as she somehow caught a lower branch mid-air and stopped her fast descent towards the ground, and barely saved herself from splatting on the ground. "What's the big idea?!"

One Hibari Kyoya pulled a bunch of leaves away from him, and smirked downwards at the shorter haired woman dangling from a lower branch, "Not my fault you tripped on thin air, _Se-n-sei~"_

 _"You little shit_ , don't think I didn't see you tripping me on purpose by smacking that branch at me!" Hikari hissed at him as she grabbed another branch and tried to climb up the tree to grab Kyoya and _literally_ knock some sense into his thick head.

Kyoya just smirked smugly at her. "Hn."

"I'll strangle you with my bare hands, _you little-!"_

Kyoya didn't wait for her to complete her profanities before he threw a tonfa downwards at her – _where the hell did he even get that?_ \- which Hikari barely dodged. By the time Hikari had reached the top branch where the boy had been hiding a few minutes ago, Kyoya had already disappeared from there, and appeared some distance away on the top of another tree, grinning challengingly at her.

A vein twitched over Hikari's head as she glowered at the ravenette in annoyance. "Just you wait, you damn brat! I'll make you _pay_ for that little stunt you pulled right now!"

* * *

A few hours later a certain spunky woman found herself at the short end of the stick as she faced an irate Nayuki and a thoroughly pissed Dr. Kagami who chewed her ears off on her carelessness and her disregard of children's health. While a certain chibi-Skylark smugly sat at the opposite corner of cafeteria, and raised his brows provocatively as he shamelessly ate the biggest scoop of choco-chips ice-cream _that should've been **hers** \- _all the while ignoring the pitiful looks of Tsuna and Takeshi as he ate the ice-cream all alone, without sharing even a spoonful of it with them.

(After all, a Cloud can hold even littlest of grudges for a very long time.)

"That brat is _so dead_." She vowed as her darkened violet eyes narrowed on the smug brat taunting her at the other end of cafeteria, and she barely dodged Nayuki's hand that had smacked the back of her head to make her stop glaring at the poor, innocent child ( _Ha!_ ) who was enjoying his reward of winning the impromptu parkour race.

* * *

The girls sat on a different table during breakfast that day. Nagi hadn't wanted to face Kyoya so soon after their fight yesterday, especially when she wasn't going to give in first and apologize – _and as far as she knew her brother, neither would Kyoya_. So, the Hibari siblings were at a stalemate. Nagi didn't think she was courageous enough to keep a calm face before her brother without giving in the urge to drag him to the infirmary for a check-up, _not that Kyoya would actually let her do something he wouldn't agree to_. Nagi vowed to ignore Kyoya until he comes to his senses and realized that he was being an utter brat, and that sometimes he needed to have his ego pegged down a bit and think about the impact his reckless actions have on those who loved and cared for him. It's not like Nagi's banning him from his fighting and patrols. She knew her brother better than anyone, and hence she knew how much Kyoya loves fighting, especially when he comes across a stronger opponent. Kyoya _relished_ the control he has on everything under him – _his people, his territory, his loved ones, his enemies_ …. and anything that threatens that control is bitten to death. Nagi didn't want to stop him from doing what he loved. All she wanted was for him to take care of himself better, and not do unnecessary things that are more along the lines of suicidal rather than foolishness. _Was that really too much to ask?_

In her trance, she didn't notice herself gripping the glass of water a bit too tighter, and before she knew it, the glass cracked into pieces, and the sharp ends of a few shattered remains cut through the milky white skin of her palm, making them bleed. Nagi winced in pain as she tried to move her bleeding hand. _Maybe strengthening her limbs with indigo fire while thinking depressing thoughts wasn't such a good idea after all…._

"Oh no!" Haru screamed.

"Nagi-chan!" Kyoko exclaimed in shock. "You're bleeding!"

Their screams attracted the students nearby them, who crowded around them and started whispering, wondering what had happened that Nagi got hurt like this. Nagi was already in a bad mood, and the crowd didn't help at all. No wonder her brother hated crowding. The damn herbivores – _as her brother called them_ \- were useless, and would rather watch someone bleed than help out. _Tch, herbivores, the lot of them._

A few teachers parted the crowd and rushed towards her, and Suzuki-Sensei immediately dabbed the wound with cotton to lessen the bleeding. It wasn't long before Kyoya too got the news of Nagi's injury and immediately arrived with Tsuna and Takeshi and demanded to know what had happened.

"It's nothing you should concern yourself over." Nagi retorted at him, her temper worsening at the sight of her brother, whom she was still angry at. Her patience was running thin, what with the chattering crowd only worsening her headache – _and the stinging pain from the wound that just wouldn't stop bleeding didn't help in soothing her already raised hackles_. "If you can brush off your suicidal jump from a height of about _eighteen feet_ , then I sure can endure a few scratches, can't I, Onii-sama?" Saying this, Nagi snatched her wounded hand from Suzuki-sensei's grasp – _the bandages that the woman had been trying to tie became undone as Nagi didn't even wait until Suzuki had tied them safely_ \- and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Tsuna shot Kyoko a look, who immediately understood his unspoken words as she stepped forward and declared, "I'll make sure to take her to the infirmary to get her injury look over." and soon, she followed Nagi out, leaving behind a glowering Kyoya, a confused crowd, and only Tsuna, Haru and Takeshi for damage control.

* * *

"Sensei, you need to look over Nagi-chan's wound!" Kyoko exclaimed in concern as soon as she walked into the infirmary, dragging Nagi with her, all the while ignoring the Doctor they had just startled with their sudden entrance.

"What wound?" Dr. Kagami asked doubtfully, before his light blue eyes – _that people don't usually noticed because of his spectacles_ \- fell on Nagi's wounded hand – _that wasn't bleeding as much as before._ "Oh my-!" He exclaimed and he immediately got off from his chair and gestured Nagi to sit on the infirmary bed in the corner. He then quickly grabbed a first aid kit and started swabbing the wound with a bit of alcohol. Nagi flinched at the slight stinging pain the disinfecting caused, but other than that she didn't make any noise. It didn't take long before her wound was bandaged.

"Thankfully the wound wasn't deep, or else your friend's condition would've been a little tricky to treat." Dr. Kagami told Kyoko, who finally sighed in relief. The doctor then brought his clipboard and told the girls with a small smile, "I need to fill a few entries regarding your visit, so I hope you cooperate."

"Of course!" Kyoko nodded happily.

"Alright then," The doctor said as he put the nib of his pen on the papers attached to the clipboard and asked, "What's your name?" He asked Nagi.

"Hibari Nagi." Nagi replied softly.

Her reply startled Dr. Kagami a bit too much. His eyes widened and he almost dropped his pen in surprise at her words. "Hibari? Are you by any chance related to Hibari Kyoya-kun, Nagi-san?" Dr. Kagami asked.

Nagi smiled politely and answered, "He is my elder brother."

"Oh," The man blinked his light blue eyes. "I didn't know that…." He muttered under his breath. Shaking his head, he finally did write her name on the papers.

"Age?"

"Seven."

"Gender- Never mind, that one's obvious." Dr. Kagami said in a joking tone, making Kyoko giggle and Nagi smile a bit.

After that he still asked a few simple questions to Nagi, which she replied with ease. "Well then, that's all there is to it." He said as he re-checked the information he put in the papers. "I'll fill the entry in the computer now, so you can go back to cafeteria if you want." He then glanced at the wall clock hanging on the opposite wall and said, "There are still a few minutes till the end of breakfast hour. I'm sure you can grab something to eat real quick if you hurry there."

Kyoko beamed at him, "Thank you, Sensei!"

"Your welcome." Dr. Kagami ruffled her hair fondly and then turned to Nagi, "Nagi-san, if your wounds hurt a bit too much, then do visit the infirmary and get some painkillers from me, okay? You can come in the evening after dinner if you want, I usually get free from work at that time." He then added on as an afterthought, "Also, I don't need to remind you to take it easy for a few days and to not agitate your injury, right?"

Nagi shook her head. "No Sir, I will keep your words in mind."

The young doctor chuckled. "Well, at least one of you siblings take the Doctor's advice seriously."

Nagi's expression shuttered off for a moment, before she replaced it with a pleasant smile. "I think we should go now." Nagi said politely as she nodded at him. "Our classes would start soon, and I didn't get to eat my fill before this incident happened."

"Ah, of course." Kagami said as he ushered them out, "If you hurry back and ask Nayuki-san for it, I'm sure he'll contact the kitchen staff and get you something to eat."

"Once again, thank you for everything, Sensei!" Kyoko waved cheerily, before she walked out of the infirmary with Nagi, leaving a smiling doctor behind who waved at them.

The polite smile on Nagi's face slid off her face as soon as she walked out of the clinic. "No wonder Onii-sama refused for the check-up." Nagi muttered wryly.

Kyoko shot her a puzzling look. "Why did you say that?"

Nagi blinked her eyes and then shook her head. "Nothing. It's just, I had just forgotten that Onii-sama doesn't like fake-herbivores." She then tugged Kyoko's sleeves with her uninjured hand and said, "Come on, let's go to Purple Onii-sama. I have to apologize to him."

Kyoko asked, baffled. "But why? I thought you were angry at him?"

"Not anymore." she said as she quirked the corner of her lips upwards. "I just remembered that my brother may seem like a cold, unfeeling, violent jerk but is actually a very caring person from inside."

"So why are you going to apologize now, and not earlier?!" Kyoko asked. She really couldn't understand Nagi's sudden change of heart.

"I just feel like it!" Nagi said cheerily.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." Kyoko said flatly.

Nagi shrugged. "That's your problem, not mine."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

Nagi's only reply to Kyoko's indignant cry was to chuckle. Kyoko tried to scowl, but failed a small giggles too escaped her lips. She then bumped her shoulder to Nagi's, and said, "I'm just glad you aren't angry anymore, Nagi-chan."

"Me too, Kyoko-chan." Nagi mumbled under her breath. "Me too."

* * *

 **OMAKE-** **Daughter-in-Law**

The Cursed infants huddled around the latest photo faxed by Yuna to Viper –in exchange of contacting a certain subordinate of hers who was in hiding. The photo was of Kyoya hugging a brunette child - _who was a head shorter than the older Hibari child_ \- with a petulant scowl on his face, while the brunette had a cute blush on his cheeks as he clung to the older boy.

"Oh my god, they're so cute!" Colonello gushed as he stared at the picture in fascination.

"Who's the other kid?" Verde asked curiously.

"Another Godchild?" Skull exclaimed. The others turned to stare at Reborn, Fon and Viper suspiciously, as if wondering whose kid is this one. Reborn himself just gave the picture a cursory glance before he uninterestedly turned away and grabbed his cup of espresso from Aria as she walked out of the kitchen, carrying everyone's drinks.

Before Fon could retort, Viper beat him to the answer as they replied dryly, "Mou, that's not true. Don't just jump to the conclusion, you idiots."

The others shared a look a disbelieving look, but at least they did not make any fuss about it. Fon sighed. At least this time they didn't assume anything like they usually did – _what with thinking that Fon had a threesome with Viper and Reborn and actually had children with them_ (Goodness, they actually believed that shit….. _Tch, idiots_.)

However, why did he have a feeling that this matter would definitely end in gunshots, explosions, and pure, pure chaos – _like everything always did whenever Kyoya's name is somehow involved even in their conversations?_

Aria handed everyone their drinks and then glanced at the photo curiously. Her eyes flashed orange for a second, and then she blinked, before smiling a mischievous smile. "Oh, that's definitely not the third child of Reborn, Fon and Viper-"

Colonello whispered conspiringly to Lal, "Why is she speaking like there's actually a third kid of the Reborn-Fon-Viper threesome of whom we aren't aware of?"

(Somewhere in North Italy, Mukuro sneezed.

"Oya?" He frowned, "Why do I have a feeling I am missing a _golden_ opportunity of causing widespread mayhem in Cosa Nostra?)

Aria just ignored Colonello's mumbles and continued on, "-because that child is actually Reborn's daughter-in-law."

Reborn- _who had been taking another sip of his deliciously made Espresso_ \- did a spit-take at her words, _"Say. **what. now?!"**_

Needless to say, all hell – _and sweet, sweet chaos_ \- broke loose.

(Fon thwacked his head against a wall repeatedly, bemoaning his luck, all the while ignoring the chaos going on in the background – _where Reborn was spouting of curses and declaring to scare off the poor brunette kid so he doesn't try to land his filthy paws on his sweet, sweet son; Viper was conspiringly telling reborn that if he can pay them a large sum, they'd happily give him the brunette's information; Verde and Lal were trying – **and failing spectacularly** \- to restrain "Mama" Reborn from going on a rampage; all the while Colonello and Skull were cackling in a corner, throwing confetti and ribbons as they planned their "supposed" godson's Grand Wedding_.

"Why Aria, why?" Fon bemoaned. "I thought you were one of the sane ones among them!"

"Sorry Fon!" Aria chirped with a giggle, as she placed her palm over her protruding tummy and patted it lovingly, "I couldn't resist!")


	18. Meraki

**Meraki**

 _Doing something with soul, creativity, or love - when you put "something of yourself" into what you're doing, whatever it may be_

~O~

Haru really didn't understand the Hibari siblings. The older one was a violent jerk who understood the world in terms of laws of food chain, while the younger one's moods changed faster than a flip of a coin, but one thing always remained constant about Nagi- _she loved to antagonize her_. Just yesterday the two of them had a huge fight, and now, the two are as thick as thieves. Seriously, the way the two of them had almost hit each other yesterday – _and that too not in a push-and-shove way_. (Haru is smart enough to understand the violent intent to hurt, and the sudden bloodthirst the Hibari siblings had emitted at that time had _not_ been her imagination, _she knew that for sure_. She wondered what kind of upbringing the two of them had to turn out to be such violent kids.) –and now, they're interacting with each other, joking around and discussing some "fake-herbivore" – _whatever that means_. _Seriously, someone should give Haru a book called **"Guide to Understand Hibari Kyoya, For Sane People"** so that she could at least understand what goes on in the head of that Vampire. After all, not everyone has an in-built Kyoya-translation device inserted in their mind from birth like Tsuna and Nagi had._ (Because there's no way that their understanding of one Hibari Kyoya's speaks and tells is natural. They must have some sort of translation device inserted in them. _Maybe it's Google translate?)_

A tap on her shoulder snapped Haru out of her thoughts. She blinked and glanced up from her now empty bowl and turned to look at Yamamoto Takeshi, who had patted her shoulder just now.

Takeshi stared at her in amusement and said, "Haha, if you think too much you'll have a headache, little _Psy-du-ck~_!"

A vein throbbed over Haru's forehead and she couldn't help but retort, "Well, having a headache is better than getting my jaw stuck because of grinning too much, right, you damn Totodile?"

Takeshi laughed at her snarky reply. "Oh man, you're so funny! I really wonder why I hadn't interacted with you sooner, being from same school and all."

Haru shrugged. Her eyes fell on a certain girl sitting on the center table in the cafeteria, smiling politely at her group of friends who were all trying to engage her in their conversation. "Maybe because I'm a weirdo, and no sane person would ever want to be friends with me." Her eyes turned distant as she spoke in a sad tone.

Takeshi's eyes sharpened slightly as he watched Haru sadly looking at someone, but didn't say anything. Something inside him clenched when he saw her so sad, _so_ depressed, and he wondered if this was how he had looked when he had been hiding his pain and sadness inside him all this time. _No wonder his Dad had been worried about him lately._

"Well then, it's a good thing that no one among us here is actually sane, right?" Haru whirled her head towards Takeshi, her wide eyes staring at the grinning boy in surprise. "A weirdo Psyduck would fit amazingly well with a mischievous Leader, a demon, a trickster, a pretty fairy and a Totodile. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah," Haru's eyes teared up at his words, and a soft smile appeared on her lips. "I do."

(Nagi and Tsuna shared a look and discreetly shared a high-five. Kyoya, who had been sitting some ways from them, gave them a stink eye and asked warily, "What are you two conspiring now?"

The two stared at him a bit too innocently and replied in unison, "Nothing."

Kyoya stared at them, unimpressed. "I don't believe you." He said flatly.

The two of them giggled at his words.

Kyoko who returned to the kitchen of the cafeteria – _with Nayuki-Sensei's permission_ \- and brought Nagi's breakfast – _since Nagi's hand was injured and she would have difficulty holding the plate_ \- put the plate down. She stared at Kyoya scowling on one side and Tsuna and Nagi giggling conspiringly on the other side, and then glanced at Nagi and Takeshi having a heart-to-heart moment, she asked quizzically, "Um, what did I miss?"

Nagi beamed at her and said teasingly, "Kyoko-chan, you just missed the start of a very beautiful friendship of the oblivious duo!" Tsuna couldn't help but crack up in laughter at her words, while Kyoya snorted.

"…..What?") 

* * *

Tsuna groaned while tossing in the bunk bed, the cramps and bruises he had gotten in the parkour class today – _Hikari-Sensei was a demon, he was damn sure of that_ \- throbbed in pain, making him unable to rest. He had somehow managed to fool the girls with his happy-go-lucky act this morning, but he couldn't keep up the charade any longer than the fifteen minutes he had spent in the cafeteria, keeping Nagi company with the others as she ate. After that, as soon as the girls prepared to attend their classes and waved them goodbye, Tsuna had immediately sagged like a puppets whose strings were abruptly cut off, and had flopped on Takeshi's back, demanding him to take him back to their room – _since asking Kyoya to carry him away_ (no matter how much he wanted it to happen) _was a death wish_. Thank goodness Dr. Kagami had given them some painkillers – _as well as a pain relief ointment_ \- this morning during his check-up after their morning parkour lesson or else Tsuna wouldn't be able to even lift his limbs, let alone tossing on his bed.

Hearing Tsuna's pained groans, Takeshi shot him a sympathetic look. "That bad, huh?"

"It's worse." Tsuna moaned, his face scrunching in pain, as he spoke " _Everything_ hurts, Rain-san. That reminds me-" he turned his head a bit and eyed Takeshi enviously, "How come you're not hurting as much as I am?"

Takeshi rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly, "I train a lot and exercise regularly to keep up my baseball skills, that's why I'm not as much hurt as you. Though," he winced slightly as he shifted his leg a bit, his thighs cramping at the slight movement. "I think I overdid it today. I'll need soak in hot water to relieve the cramps before I would be able to play baseball today."

Tsuna gave Takeshi a stink-eye and with a huff decided to ignore the other boy. It's true that misery loves company. What's even truer is that being the only one suffering sucks – _especially when the other person went through the same thing with you but is still alright, while you're the only one who's suffering from it._

 _How hateful!_

* * *

Haru had been quite engrossed in knitting a pretty design on a beautiful blue fabric during her Sewing and Knitting Class, when Hisako-Sensei clapped her hands, grabbing her attention.

"Hello everyone! I have an announcement to make!" Hisako-Sensei smiled slightly at the little girls who stared at her curiously. "Do you remember Nayuki-Sensei informing you on your first day here about the various competitions that will happen on the last day of the camp?" When the girls nodded, she continued on, "Our Sewing and Knitting class will also have a competition, but it's a bit different from the ones that will happen on the fifth day of the Summer Camp, and I want every single one of you to compete in it." The girls immediately sat straighter and listened intently to their teacher. Hisako-Sensei couldn't help but smile at such an adorable sight. "I want you to present anything you have sewed or knitted with your own hands – _whether it be a simple design on a handkerchief, or a self-made plushie with discarded fabric-_ to me on the fourth day of the camp. The results will be declared in the evening in the same class." A few girls wanted to protest but Hisako-Sensei cut them off. "I know some of you here are beginners, while some are already quite advanced in sewing and knitting, but I still want you to try. Don't be discouraged just because you think your level is low. Every effort of yours counts. So what if the result wasn't to your satisfaction? You should be content because at least you tried."

Her heartfelt words shut the girls up.

Hisako-Sensei then smiled and said, "I have just the perfect thing to motivate you." Saying this, she gestured towards the table, on which lay a something of cuboidal shape –must be some kind of box- hidden by a white fabric. "This is the prize that the winner of this little competition will get."

Saying this, she pulled off the white fabric covering the box, and most girls gasped in delight when they saw what the prize actually was. Even Haru couldn't help but be stunned. Because lying inside the transparent plastic box were six pokemon plushies.

On the furthest right stood a Riolu whose beady eyes were narrowed as it scowled, and for some reason, she was reminded of that damn Vampire and his grumpiness. Next to it stood Misdreavous with a mischievous look in it's purple eyes that were so similar to Nagi's. A Totodile stood next to the tricky ghost pokemon, it's eyes curving into a smile, it's happy-go-lucky attitude was so similar to Yamamoto Takeshi that Haru couldn't help but be startled. On the furthest left stood a Clefairy with a bright smile just like Kyoko's, and next to it stood a Psyduck, whose head was tilted, as if it were confused. Haru then glanced at the Evee standing in the middle of the row, wearing a hat as orange as Tsuna's amber eyes.

 _._

 _"You," Kyoya pointed at the cosplayer girl, and said, "are coming with me."_

 _._

 _Tsuna extended his hand out towards the cosplaying girl, making her jump at the sudden movement, as he smiled brightly and asked, "Would you like to join our Team, Psyduck-chan?"_

 _._

 _"Hush, no one asked the Psyduck for her opinion." Nagi said teasingly._

 _"Why, you-!"_

 _._

 _"Haru-chan, you're amazing!" Kyoko gushed at Haru._

 _._

 _"A weirdo Psyduck would fit amazingly well with a mischievous Leader, a demon, a trickster, a pretty fairy and a Totodile. Don't you think so?"_

 _._

.

Looking at the Pokemon plushie set that reminded her so much of her newest friends, Haru couldn't help but clench her fists as her eyes flashed in determination. It was as if someone has ignited a fire inside her. For once in her life, there was something she _wanted_ from the depths of her heart. She wanted to win that plushie set with her own efforts, and then gift each pokemon plushie to the ones it reminded her of, and thank them with the bottom of her heart for being her friends. She wanted them to know how grateful she is for their acceptance of her weirdo (lonely) self.

That's why, _she will win._

* * *

Lunch Time came, and as always, Tsuna and his friends – _sans Kyoko and Haru, who were attending their Cooking Class_ \- sat at their table at the corner of the cafeteria. Well, it was more like everyone was sitting on their chairs, except Tsuna, who slumped forward, resting his head on the table. Nagi poked Tsuna's arm, and the boy twitched in response, before shooting her a glare. "Stop that." He moaned. "It hurts so much!" He whined at her.

Nagi stared at him, flabbergasted. "How come you are hurting only now? You were fine during breakfast, Orange-san!"

Takeshi chuckled and immediately outed Tsuna, "He was pretending at that time."

Tsuna pouted. "Rain-san, you weren't supposed to tell her that!"

"Ahahahaha! Sorry, sorry!" Takeshi apologized, though it was obvious from his grin – _as well as the teasing smile on his lips_ \- that he wasn't actually sorry for letting out Tsuna's little secret.

Nagi giggled. Kyoya snorted and turned his head to the side, though the way the corner of his lips twitched upwards made it obvious that he was amused by their antics.

Tsuna balefully glared at them and huffed. "What good friends I have, that find my suffering amusing…"

Nagi patted Tsuna's back lightly and said, "It'll be fine, Orange-san. I'll call Kusakabe-sempai to get you some pain relief medicine."

Tsuna waved her off and spoke lightly, "Don't trouble sempai for such little ting. Dr. Kagami has already prescribed me some medicine to tone down the pain of my cramps and bruises."

Nagi and Kyoya shared a look, and then Nagi shrugged. "If you say so." She muttered quietly.

Tsuna glanced between Kyoya and Nagi with narrowed eyes, but when his orange fire didn't react too much, he put it out of his mind, and then glanced sideways and saw Kyoko entering the cafeteria. "Hey, Kyoko-chan's back!" he informed his friends, who all turned to greet Kyoko.

Kyoko walked towards them with a dazed look in her eyes, carrying a bento box in her hands. In her daze, she was less aware, and hence almost bumped into someone. She stumbled, and the bento was somehow ended up in air. Takeshi immediately put his baseball skills to use and caught the bento before it could fall on the ground, while Kyoya used his speed to reach Kyoko and steadied her, before glaring at the herbivore that had bumped into her. The boy shrunk in fear when he saw Kyoya's scathing glare, and after stammering an apology to Kyoko, he quickly scurried off. Kyoko thanked Kyoya and steadied herself. Meanwhile, Nagi and Tsuna rushed towards Kyoko and helped her sit on a chair.

"Are you alright?" Nagi asked Kyoko in concern.

Kyoko blinked and said, "Ah yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

the others shared a look, and sat down around her. "What happened?" Tsuna asked.

Kyoko scratched her cheek and said, "Well, Haru-chan was really strange today."

"Strange?" Takeshi mused. "How so?"

"Uh, she seemed quite distracted today during the Cooking Class. It was as if she had something on her mind. And also, she didn't pay much attention to Satsuki-chan's scathing comments today. Yesterday she had been quite affected by Satsuki-chan's bad attitude towards her, and Ami-chan's indifference, but today, she had just ignored them. That was really strange." Tsuna and Nagi shared a look. Well, that explains why their resident Psyduck seemed quite depressed yesterday. Looks like there was someone messing around with her.

 _Should they teach that perpetrator a lesson or should they just sic Kyoya on them?_

Kyoya smacked the two's head with is hands and said exasperatingly, "Can you stop that? I _know_ that look on your faces."

"What look?" Nag said innocently, while Tsuna himself stared at Kyoya with doe-eyes.

Kyoya stared at them, unimpressed, and spoke, "The look that means you are planning someone's doom."

The two of them couldn't help but snicker at his words.

"He knows us so well." Nagi whispered to Tsuna.

"That, he does." Tsuna agreed to her.

"But that isn't all that's worrying you, is there?" Takeshi asked Kyoko.

"Yes, there's more." Kyoko said as he glanced down at her hands and clenched them into fists. "I don't understand…" Kyoko muttered, "Why is Satsuki-chan so hostile to Haru-chan? I don't think Haru-chan did anything to her to earn that hostility. Also, how can Ami-chan be so indifferently?! It's so obvious that Haru-chan so much wanted to be friends with her, but she just Haru-chan as if she doesn't matter." She looked up at her friends, her eyes flashing in distress for her friend, "Why? Why do they treat her like that? I really don't understand…."

The others looked down quietly, not knowing what to say to her. The suffocating silence surrounded them for a few minutes before it was broken by the least expected person.

"Because that's how some people are." Kyoya spoke indifferently, and everyone turned to stare at him with wide eyes. Kyoya stared back at them with calm grey eyes, leaned back on his chair and continued on, "There are all kinds of people on this earth. There are those who take pleasure in hurting others, those who feel superior by suppressing those who are weaker than them, those who are over-confident of their abilities that they treat others like dirt- _people like them are nothing more than fake-herbivores_. Then there are the truly weak ones, those that have sheep mentality and follow the crowd, and never form their own opinions – _those are the herbivores_. The ones who fight against the system, who stand up for their belief are the true carnivores. The Omnivores are the ones who might appear weak and herbivorous, but once they find their goals _, their will to live_ , then there is nothing that can stop them." He stared at each of the child sitting before him, and stressed out his words, "This is how the world works."

He turned to Kyoko and told her, "You cannot expect selfish herbivores like them to appreciate someone like Miura Haru. Not everyone can see how special she is."

Everyone stared at Kyoya, speechless. Kyoko and Takeshi hadn't thought that Namimori's demon child had such a depth to his character. It seemed that him calling people herbivores and all that wasn't only a strange quirk of his – _there was actually a deep meaning behind it_.

Seeing their wide eyed stares, Kyoya narrowed his eyes and hissed out, "What?"

Kyoko blinked her eyes at him, then turned towards Nagi and said flatly, "He's a tsundere, isn't he?"

"Yup." Nagi said as she snickered.

Kyoya bristled like a particularly disgruntled cat and threatened them, " _I'll bite you two to death!"_

And just like that, the atmosphere turned to normal. A good thing too, because a few minutes later, Haru herself appeared, carrying a notepad and a pencil, looking quite distracted as she scribbled some words on it and mumbled something under her breath.

"Yo, Psyduck-chan!" Takeshi waved at her, and Haru glanced up at him. "Thanks for the Omurice!" He gestured towards the bento that everyone had opened just two minutes ago, and had quickly grabbed a piece of it each.

Haru stared down at the now empty bento, and then screeched in outrage, "Where's my share?!" She glared at everyone else and exclaimed angrily, "You didn't even leave anything for me?!"

"Nope!" Nagi denied shamelessly as she bit into the Omurice with an exaggerated moan, making Tsuna and Kyoko giggle at her antics. Even Kyoya smirked in amusement.

"I'll strange you all, you little-!" Haru hissed furiously and stomped towards them.

Tsuna gasped as he tried to control his laughter, and then turned towards Nagi and Takeshi, who were laughing like idiots at the face of a furious Haru and scolded them, "Oi, no antagonizing the Psyduck, you guys!" he then turned towards Haru and said, "Don't mind them, they're lying to you. We did left you a piece." He then pointed at the plate lying on the center of the table, only to blink in surprise when he found that it was empty. He then glanced up at Kyoya, who somehow stuffed the whole omurice into his mouth and smirked tauntingly at Haru,

"It was _delicious_." he purred as he licked his fingers, not noticing Tsuna's eyes that were glued to the motion and his cheeks turning a little red, not even knowing why he was blushing.

(Deep inside him, his orange fire curled as if it were laughing it's ass off.)

"You guys are all so horrible!" Haru screeched at them in offense, making everyone else laugh.

* * *

After having their fun at Haru's expense, they finally calmed their friend down by offering her an extra omurice that Kyoko had hidden earlier – _who had known that her new friends were really gluttonous and wouldn't spare anything for their resident Psyduck if she offered them all the omurice they had cooked together_.

So, after spending a fun lunch together, they finally parted ways. Tsuna went back to his room with Yamamoto, Kyoko went to return the bento box to the cafeteria, while Kyoya disappeared to god-knows-where. Nagi was about to head back to their room and try a few origami designs from the book she had borrowed from her teacher, but was stopped by Haru.

"Hey Nagi-chan," Haru asked Nagi, who turned towards her friend. "What is your favorite flower?"

Nagi was startled by the random question, but she then shrugged it off and answered, "Iris."

"Oh." Haru murmured before she scribbled something in her notepad. "What about Tsuna-san and your Vampire brother? What are their favorite flowers?"

Nagi quirked a brow at the question, and wondered why Haru wanted to know that. "Onii-sama likes Bellflower, while Orange-san likes Lilies."

"Alright, thanks!" Haru said and soon walked away with the notepad, still scribbling something on it.

Nagi watched Haru's back as she went away and hummed under her breath.

"How strange." She muttered.

* * *

An hour later Yamamoto Takeshi carried a bat on his shoulder, as well as a pair of gloves in his hands as he walked towards the playground behind the camp, where some kids often gathered to play games. It was a shame that Tsuna couldn't come today, since his body still wasn't feeling well from the extreme impromptu workout of the morning, and hence he had to go alone today. Not that he minded not having Tsuna – _or anyone else from his newest group of friends_ \- to be with him when he played his favorite sport – _a sport that reminded him of soft hands, warm eyes and a desperate plea_ _"Don't go anywhere, Takeshi!"_ -

"Yamamoto-kun, are you okay?" a familiar voice snapped him out of his trance and he shook his head to shake off the memories he didn't want to remember right now and glanced down at Haru's concern face.

He grinned at her – _however his smile never reached his eyes_ \- as he spoke, "Hey, I'm fine. I was just thinking about how many homeruns I should make today!" He lied easily, and he almost thought that Haru had noticed his lie, what with the way she narrowed her eyes at him. But then she shook her head and the previous skeptical expression was wiped from her face, leaving behind a small smile that made him sigh in relief. _Thank goodness she didn't notice._

(Haru could see right through his lies, but she didn't dare to call him out for that. After all, she knew he didn't need someone's sympathy or pity. What Yamamoto Takeshi needed was for someone to accompany him, to accept him for who he is- with all his goodness and flaws. She could see it in his eyes, the longing for someone to understand him, the loneliness that threatened to consume him and the despair of an unknown past. They were the same kind of eyes she saw in the mirror every day. 

_They was the same as her own eyes_.)

"So, did you need something from me?" He asked her.

"Oh, right! Hahi, I almost forgot!" She smacked her head in exasperation – _making him laugh_ \- before she asked him, "What's your favorite flower?"

"Ah? Why do you want to know that?"

Haru pouted. "Come on!" she whined at him. _"TellMeTellMeTellMe-!"_

Takeshi laughed. "Alright, alright, jeez don't hound me like that. My favorite flowers…." the smile slid off from his face, as his dark eyes dropped in sadness. "Forget me not." He whispered. "My mother loved them too."

Haru stared at him quietly. "Mine are Sunflowers. My dad said my mother liked them too." She spoke, then she patted his back and left, leaving behind Takeshi who stared at her lone back.

He chuckled, that soon turned into sobs as a tear escaped his right eye. "I'm such an idiot." He said as he let the baseball and his gloves fall on the ground and pressed the back of his palm against his eyes, fearing that the tears would fall. All this time he had been suffering all alone, tormenting himself, thinking about what ifs and spending his time being depressed, he had forgotten one crucial thing.

He wasn't the only one who had to go through something like that. At least he had known his mother – _no matter how gruesome her death had been_. There are people in this world who didn't even get to meet their own mother's.

 _Like Haru….._

Grieving was fine. But letting his grief consume him, to not let anyone in, and even pushing his precious people away was not acceptable. He had forced this loneliness upon himself, unlike others who were forced to suffer it due to circumstances. He was the only one responsible for his sadness and despair.

 _It was high time he leave the past behind and finally move forward to a brighter future._

 _._

* * *

Kyoko walked into their shared room at four in the evening, and was startled at the mess on the floor. Leftover remains of colorful fabric littered the floor, a few scrunched up paper-balls were strewn all over. In the center of this disaster sat Haru, working on something with utmost concentration as she compared two fabrics of dark green color – _honestly, both of them looked the same to Kyoko_ \- and glanced at her notepad every once in a while.

"Haru-chan?" Kyoko asked. "What are you doing?"

Haru jumped – _too engrossed in her work she hadn't noticed when Kyoko had actually entered the room_ \- and in her haste she pieced a needle into her forefinger. Yelping in pain, she pulled the needle out, and with teary eyes jerked her hand a few times. Kyoko rushed towards her and pulled her injured finger towards her, and noticed a little bit of blood slowly appearing from the wound. Kyoko then grabbed a Band-Aid from her bag – _good think she always listened to her mother's lecture about keeping a few essential first aid things with her_ \- and pasted it on her wound.

"You're so clumsy, Haru-chan!" She scolded her exasperatingly. "What are you working on with such concentration that you didn't even notice me coming?"

Haru averted her eyes and said, "Well, I have participated in the Sewing and Knitting Competition organized by the camp, and according to it, I have to submit my creation the day after tomorrow."

She then stared at Kyoko, conviction burning in her eyes as she said "I want to win, Kyoko-chan. I want the first prize, and I will try my very best to get it." She grabbed Kyoko's hands and said desperately, _"Believe me."_

Kyoko beamed at her. "Of course I believe in you, Haru-chan! Your creation will be amazing, I just know it!" She said as she patted her friend's shoulder.

Haru's shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank you…" she whispered. She then remembered something suddenly and asked Kyoko, "What is your favorite flower, by the way?"

Kyoko stared at her, puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

Haru smiled mischievously at her. "Just because." She shrugged.

"Well," Kyoko said with a small smile on her face. "It's cherry blossom. I like Sakura trees the most. They are the prettiest, aren't they?"

Haru smiled softly at her. "Yes, they are."

* * *

The next day, Tsuna and his friends didn't see Haru around for the whole day. Haru had skipped Dinner the day before, and the next day, she wasn't even there at the breakfast table. When the boys asked about her, Kyoko told them what Haru had been doing since the previous day.

"It's good to know that she is working hard for something, but to neglect her own health for something like this is foolishness." Tsuna frowned in concern.

Nagi sighed. "A Psyduck will always remain a Psyduck- foolish to the extreme."

Kyoko suddenly chuckled after hearing her last statement.

"What?" Nagi shot her quizzical look.

"Nothing."

"What is the prize anyways?" Takeshi asked as he scratched the back of his neck. "What is it that she wants so much to work so hard like that?"

The other three shared a look and then shrugged. They then turned to Kyoya in unison, who had been eating in breakfast in peace till now, ignoring his fellow Baby-guardians' antics.

"What?" he scowled at them when he found them staring at him.

"What's the first prize for the Sewing and Knitting Competition, Cloud-san?" Tsuna asked.

Kyoya's scowl deepened. "How should I know that?"

"How can _you_ not know?" Nagi asked wryly. "You know every little thing that goes on in Namimori, Onii-sama. It's impossible that you not know about this."

Huffing in irritation, Kyoya pulled out his phone, and after tapping a few buttons in it, he showed them a photo. "It's a Pokemon plushie set. Here, this is it."

The others leaned forward to get a closer look at it. After a while, they leaned back on their seats and the four of them shared a look.

"That damn Pokemon fanatic." Nagi deadpanned.

"That's our Psyduck for ya!" Takeshi said with a wry grin.

* * *

Kyoko walked into the room, carrying a tray in her hands, in which sat a plate of onigiris that she had brought for Haru to eat. "Haru-chan!" She greeted the girl, who was sitting on the ground, and was busy sewing something on a small green patch of fabric. "I brought lunch!"

"Just a moment….." Haru mumbled as she completed sewing the design, before she put the fabric to the side and smiled at Kyoko and patted the space next to her. Kyoko placed the tray there, and then sat before Haru.

"You are really diligent in making this, huh, Haru-chan?" Kyoko asked happily. "You must really want that Pokemon plushie set then!"

Haru, who had just bit into an onigiri, almost choked at her words. She coughed a few times, and only when she drank a few mouthful of water from the glass that Kyoko had immediately offered to her, she finally felt relief. "Who told you that?" She asked, her voice was slightly hoarse from coughing so much.

"Hibari-sempai told us about the first prize." Kyoko informed her.

"Ah… is that so." Haru mumbled awkwardly.

"Hey, I'm really curious about what you're making; let me see that, okay?" Kyoko said as she moved to grab the green fabric to take a look at it.

"What? No-!" Haru, who was startled by Kyoko's sudden action, tried to take away the fabric but was a second too late because Kyoko had already grabbed it. She quickly snatched the fabric from Kyoko's hands and hid it behind her, but it was of no use. Haru glanced at Kyoko's widened eyes and gaping jaw, and sighed. "You saw my sewed designs, haven't you?"

Kyoko stared at Haru in disbelief. "You… what's going on?" She asked.

Haru didn't reply.

Most of the time, Kyoko played the role of an oblivious, bright girl who would overlook even simplest of things. And while Kyoko might be oblivious most of the times, she was sensitive to some things that most people don't understand. Kyoko was more attuned to people's feelings than anyone else. Her Mom used to joke that if superpowers actually existed in this world, then Kyoko would be a natural empath. She could understand the feelings deep buried inside them quiet easily. That was how she had noticed Hana's torment. While there was nothing she could do to help Hana-chan – _but she wanted to, god knows how much she wanted to help Hana-chan so, **so** much_ (but it wasn't possible because she was so _weak_ and _useless_ and what could an under-aged child like her do when even Hana-chan's mother – _and even her own mother_ \- was helpless against those problems?!) she'd be damned if she failed another friend of hers. While Haru-chan wasn't as much in trouble as Hana-chan is, there is still a knot in her heart that can't be easily solved.

Haru-chan was putting all her heart into her efforts, and it would really be a shame if others misunderstood her intentions, and overlooked her heartfelt emotions.

Because if she only desires those plushies for herself, why else would she carve the design of the favorite flowers of their friends on the patch of green fabric?

Kyoko grabbed Haru's hands and tightened her grip on them slightly. "Tell me everything." She insisted. When she saw Haru was about to protest, she quickly assured her friend, "I promise I won't tell anyone about it."

Haru hesitated for a while, before she finally told her everything. Kyoko just sat there silently and listened to her words. Of course she would keep her promise. She won't tell everyone else that Haru-chan wanted this plushie set for everyone else. She won't tell them that Haru was putting her heart and soul into this little competition because she wanted to prove that she was worthy of their friendship.

Just because she can't inform them, it doesn't mean Nagi-chan too can't do that.

(Nagi stood outside the room, by the door, and silently listened to Haru's words as she explained to Kyoko her intentions regarding this competition and it's prize. Nagi couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Psyduck-chan really thinks too much." she whispered under her breath as she rolled her eyes fondly. "Who said we need some token as a gratitude for befriending you, you damn confused duckling? Can't we befriend you for being yourself?")

* * *

Haru hadn't known when she had fallen asleep third night of the camp. All she remembered was putting the last finishing touches on her creation. She must've dozed off on the floor. But when she opened her eyes, she groaned and tried to stretch her limbs. Sleeping on the floor was a really bad idea, her neck was quite stiff now. Yawning she pulled off the blanket from her body- wait, _blanket?_

She glanced down at the baby blue blanket covering her body – _if she remembered correctly, wasn't this Nagi-chan's?_ She then glanced at the side, and stared blankly at the plate of pancakes covered with honey – _they were still warm_ \- to her side. Rubbing her eyes, she turned towards the desk where the alarm clock sat, and blanched when she saw the time- _it was already 9:30 AM_. She hastily got up, and grabbed the plate of pancakes and placed it on the desk. She then folded the blanket and placed it on the lower bunk bed, and hastily turned to grab a change of clothes from her bag. She pulled out her clothes, and along with her clothes came out a folded piece of paper. She stared at it in confusion, before she shrugged and grabbed it. She unfolded the paper and when she read it's contents, she could help but let out a laugh.

.

.

.

 _'Sorry Haru-chan, we didn't wake you up 'cause we wanted you to catch a few more hours of sleep. You have been working too hard these few days, you needed a little rest!'_ – _Kyoko_

 **'Psyduck-chan, you look less like a duck and more like a panda with those dark circles underneath your eyes. (^_^) Take a nap in the afternoon, I don't like looking at a duck with Panda-eyes.'** **–Nagi**

'Haru, Tsuna and I sneaked a few extra pancakes for you! Hope when you wake up, they're still warm! Oh, and Best of Luck for Today, 'kay?' **_– Takeshi, the Totodile \\\\(^u^)/_**

 ** _'Hii Psyduck-chan! Don't make a habit of staying late up still night, alright? I hope you like the pancakes! I asked Cloud-san to treat us chocolates if you win today's game! (Don't underestimate Cloud-san, I'm sure he'll find a way to smuggle some chocolates in the camp *wink**wink*) -Tsuna_**

 ** _'I will excuse your tardiness just this once, herbivore.' Hibari Kyoya_**

.

.

.

She leaned against the wall and clutched the piece of paper closer to her chest. She let out a watery chuckle and whispered, "I'm so glad I met you guys."

* * *

When Haru walked into the cafeteria during lunchtime of the fourth day, she found herself surrounded by her friends as they dragged her to their table and loaded her plate with huge amount of food. She really didn't know whether to laugh or cry at their antics.

"Hahi!" She squeaked. "I can't eat this much!"

"We don't care, you have to finish off everything in your plate by yourself." Nagi declared as she sat next to her.

Kyoko piped in, "Haru-chan, you don't know how much worried everyone was in the past two days. You came for neither Breakfast, Lunch, nor Dinner yesterday. They are obviously concerned about you."

"But I still can't eat this much!" Haru whined.

Takeshi cracked up in laughter. "We'll help you finish the rest you ate as much as you had. Now dig in!"

Haru rolled her eyes, but she did begun eating. It wasn't until she took a few bites of her sandwich that she noticed everyone still staring at her, and not eating their own lunch.

"What?" She asked after she swallowed her food.

"How did it go?" Tsuna asked eagerly. "Your competition I mean."

"Who knows." Haru shrugged. "I only submitted it right now. The results will be declared in the evening."

The others sighed in disappointment. Haru then glanced at others curiously and asked, "Didn't anyone of you participate in any competition?"

"I took part in Poster-making Competition." Nagi said.

"I put my name for Landscape Photography!" Tsuna said.

"That's great!" Kyoko said happily, "I myself am participating in the Cooking Competition."

"I am doing two hundred meter race and the spoon race." Takeshi grinned.

Everyone then turned to Kyoya, who gave them a disdainful look as if saying, _'Are you seriously expecting me to participate in such herbivorous activities?'_ the others turned away in embarrassment. They had almost forgotten that Kyoya didn't just do social things.

Haru blinked as she realized something. "So, no one participated in any group activities?"

The others shared a look and then shook their heads.

"It's too late for us to give our names now. The participating teams were supposed to give their names by this morning." Tsuna said with a shrug.

Haru scratched her chin. "It's not like every one of us has something in common that we could've participated in."

"Yeah, we all are too different." Nagi agreed.

Kyoya couldn't help but smirk smugly. "You'll find common ground soon enough." he muttered under his breath, as he remembered how all his fellow Vongola guardians – _who had been so different from each other-_ had come together after Reborn's arrival.

Takeshi, who had been sitting next to him, shot him a puzzled look, "Hibari-sempai, did you say something?"

Kyoya immediately schooled his features to indifference. "It's nothing."

.

* * *

Haru tried to calm her nerves down as she sat in the assigned room in the evening, eying the other girls as they talked with their friends and wished that Kyoko-chan hadn't opted dancing classes instead of this class. In that case at least she's have Kyoko-chan's company right now. Sighing, she glanced around the room and her eyes fell on Ami-chan who sat near the window seat, who was eying the darkening sky in boredom. Ever since she had made friends with Kyoko-chan, Nagi-chan and others, she didn't feel that lonely anymore, and had also stopped craving Ami-chan's company. But still, sometimes she couldn't help but glance at her. After all, Ami-chan was the person she had always wanted to befriend, the kind of person she had always wanted to be like – _smart, charming and popular_. Ami-chan was really an amazing person, and well, if she wasn't that cold towards her, Haru was sure she'd have been a wonderful friend. Haru had once wanted to be like Ami-chan, but now, for some reason Haru thought that she was fine the way she was. She had friends now who had accepted her the way she is, and she was really glad for it.

(She has Kyoko-chan, who she felt was as close to her as a sister, who understood her heart even better than Haru herself did. There was Nagi-chan who – _for all her teasing and mocking_ \- cared for her so much. Then there was Takeshi, who was so much like her that sometimes it hurt her to even look at him. Tsuna-san -who somehow knew what she wanted before she could speak, who accepted her into their group with open arms. And there was Hibari Kyoya – _that damn vampire_ \- the one who brought her to this group ad forcefully scared away her loneliness one violent action at a time. Gods, she never thought she'd be lucky enough to find such amazing friends here. How funny is it, that in just these four days she had managed to get close to such wonderful people.

 _This Summer Camp has been the best thing that has ever happened to her_.)

"Good evening Everyone!" Hisako-Sensei spoke as she walked into the room, and the girls who had scattered around the room all gathered towards her. Hisako-Sensei smiled brightly at all the girls and said, "I'm so proud you all girls. Each one of you brought forth a beautiful creation, and that showed all the effort you put into it. I cannot explain through words how much proud you have made me today."

The girls blushed at their teacher's praise.

"I really wanted to reward every single one of you for your hard work. But unfortunately, this is a competition, and hence, there can only be one winner." Hisako-Sensei said.

Haru crossed her fingers and slightly leaned forward in anticipation. _'This is it'_ , She thought. She must win.

 _She had to._

"And the winner is-" Hisako-sensei paused dramatically, eying the anxious girls in amusement, and she finally declared the name of the winner-

"Matsukaze Ami."

 _…No._

Haru slumped in her seat in a daze as the other girls in her class clapped and cheered loudly for the winner. Ami stood up from her seat by the window, and walked towards the teacher when she gestured her to come forward.

"While everyone of your work was definitely worth seeing, Ami's designs had truly been spectacular." Hisako-sensei said proudly as she patted Ami's back.

 ** _No._**

"Here, I'll show it to you and let you judge her work yourself." Hisako-sensei said as she pulled out a red velvet scarf from her duffel bag and spread it to show it to her students. The girls "ooheed" and "aahed" when they saw the beautiful gold embroidery on the ends of the scarf. The craftsmanship was too beautiful, the golden peacock that Ami had carved from glittering golden threads seemed to left it's head proudly as the velvet cloth fluttered a bit. The silver trees sewed from silver colored threats seemed to shimmer with just slightest movement of the loth. It was too beautiful to be true. Who would believe that such a beautiful craft was made by an eight year old's hands?

"Isn't it truly beautiful? I must say Ami is truly talented." Hisako-sensei patted Ami's head fondly, while the little girl just looked on indifferently, as if she wasn't excited even a bit to win the first prize.

"However, I must say, Ami isn't the only talented person in the class. There is also another person whose craftsmanship has highly impressed me." Hisako-sensei spoke as she pulled out a green armband from her duffel bag and showed it to the girls.

The girls stared at the dark green armband with wide eyes. On the armband were sewed six beautiful flowers, connected to each other by shimmering light green vines. In the middle of the green armband was a big and bright yellow sunflower, surrounded by a blue forget-me-not and a pink-cherry blossom flower. On the other side of the armband were sewed a beautiful orange Lily, with a dark blue iris on one side and a bright purple bellflower on the other. The craftsmanship was so detailed that the flowers looked vivid and bright. Looking at them could give someone a peace of mind.

However, the elegance and vividness of the flowers paled in comparison to the magnificence of the flamboyant golden peacock. No wonder Ami had won the first prize.

"Haru-chan's work was also a beautiful sight to see. Everyone, please give her a huge round of applause for her beautiful work!" Hisako-sensei exclaimed with a smile, and the girls obeyed as they clapped enthusiastically for the girl who had sewed such beautiful flowers. Ami's brows furrowed slightly, but soon they smoothed out as they regarded Haru calmly.

"Haru-chan, come here, sweetie!" Hisako-sensei gestured for Haru to come forward, Haru could only numbly obey her words. She nodded and walked forward in a daze and stood next to Ami.

"So, we have our winners here! Matsukaze Ami- who won the first prize, and Miura Haru- who won the second prize!" Once again, everyone clapped their hands and cheered for the winners, but the sound of clapping was akin to buzzing noises in Haru's ears, as her mind was stuck on only two words spoken by Hisako-sensei.

 _Second Prize?_ Her dedication and hard work was only worth **_Second prize?_** The armband that she had created as a symbol of her friendship was only worth this much in their eyes? She poured her heart and soul into it, she made it with all the feelings of gratitude, affection and companionship that she held for her friends, and it didn't even compare to Ami's soulless flamboyant peacock? Were her feelings not enough to go past the barrier that is Ami's geniusness? _Were her emotions not genuine enough?!_

Haru didn't remember what had happened next. She had been too distracted to listen Hisako-sensei's next instructions. By the time she had come out of her daze, twenty minutes had already passed and the class had been dismissed some time ago, since there wasn't anyone in the class except her. Haru gently picked the armband she had worked relentlessly on the last two days, and stumbled out of the classroom. Her eyes were glued on the armband, especially on the bright yellow sunflower she had painstakingly sewed into it. She then gently rubbed the pretty petals of the sunflower slightly and walked forward, not noticing where she was actually going.

"Ami-chan, you're so amazing! I knew you'd win!" Hearing the familiar voice froze Haru. _Wasn't that Satsuki-chan's voice?_ "You remember your promise, right? That you'd let me take a plushie from the pokemon set if you win!"

"Of course I do. You can take whatever you want. I am not interested in such childish things anyways." Ami spoke indifferently.

"Really? Thank you so much, Ami-chan! I knew you really are the best!" Satsuki gushed.

Haru stared to the side and saw Ami boredly handing Satsuki the Pokemon plushie set she had won, and Satsuki excitedly held the plushie set in her hands and cooed at the pokemon plushies.

"Goodness, Evee is just the cutest! And so is Clefairy! Look, this Riolu look so fierce, I bet it's a softie deep down! Oooh, this Misdreavous looks so mystic! And this Totodile, hahahahahaha! Just looking at it brightens my mood!" Satsuki cooed at the plushies as she picked one by one and hugged them, and then placed them back in the set.

Meanwhile Haru just stood there as if someone had glued the soles of her shoes there. She knew she should move on, but her eyes couldn't help but be stuck on the pokemon plushies Ami had so indifferently handed to Satsuki.

Haru scolded herself. She knew she was being silly. It was just some plushies, what's the big deal? She should move on, before Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan find her staring at them like a creep. They don't really like her, and if they actually find her here staring at them like that, she was sure they would not have any good words to speak to her. It's better to go to her friends and tell them flatly that she was incompetent and couldn't win.

But for all her mental scolding, her feet still did not move, and her eyes still did not leave the plushie set in Satsuki's hands.

"And-Eh? There's a Psyduck here too?" Satsuki exclaimed as she pulled out the Psyduck plushie that was holding it's head. Satsuki's eyes darkened as she glared at the plushie in her hands in disgust, "I hate Psyduck! It is really a useless pokemon!" She complained. "While it has such powerful psychic powers, all it does is hold it's head and make difficulties for Misty in the cartoon! I really can't stand such a useless thing!"

Saying this she threw the Psyduck plushie away, declaring it as worthless.

Haru knew it was stupid, and that she was being really silly. But when she watched the plushie being thrown like that, and for the soft toy to fall into a ditch and get covered with mud like that, she couldn't help but compare herself to the Psyduck plushie.

What had Satsuki called it again?

 _Pathetic….. Weak… Useless… **Worthless…..**_

Remembering those scathing words, Haru couldn't help it. She finally let her emotions overcome her and burst into tears.

.

.

.

(Somewhere inside the cafeteria, Tsuna suddenly sat up straight as his orange fire pinged alarmingly inside him. Seeing Tsuna's suddenly alert expression, the other four turned to him nervously.

"Tsuna?" Takeshi asked in concern.

"Did something happen, Orange-san?" Nagi asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"Something's wrong." Tsuna's voice deepened slightly and his eyes flashed amber. He then glanced around the table, and when his amber eyes fell on Haru's empty seat, the alarm ringing inside his head intensified. Wincing slightly at the pain, he hissed and said, "Haru….." his eyes snapped open and he said urgently, "Something happened to Psyduck- no, Haru-chan. We need to find her immediately."

"What do you mean-?" Kyoko asked anxiously, but before she could say anymore, Kyoya immediately cut her off as he ordered them with narrowed grey eyes.

"Ask questions later, herbivore. Right now, our main priority should be to find the Cosplaying-herbivore."

The other three shared a look, and then steeled their emotions as they spoke with determination, "Hai!"

 ** _Of course, no one noticed the slight flashes of different colors in their eyes_** _)_

 _(To be continued…)_

* * *

 **A/N:-Gosh, these kids are just too much. Sometimes, I just want to hug them tightly and never let go.**

 **…And then I remember I' the one who wrote them like this and I fore myself to get down from the high of inspiration.**

 **P.S. sorry, no Arcobaleno OMAKES for today. See you next time!**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **(Oopsie! It's not over yet! Here's some EXTRAS for you all!-**

* * *

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 **~EXTRAS-1~**

Tsuna had never been as angry as he was at that moment. Tsuna had been the one to find Haru – _thanks to his orange fire_ \- in a corner of the garden, crying so heartbreakingly that it made something inside him clench. It made him want to hit someone, to _destroy_ something to pieces, to **r a g e** -

And then all his rage simmered into nothing as a plastic tonfa smacked against the back of his head, and while Tsuna was busy rubbing the bump on his head and wincing at the slight stinging pain it caused, Kyoya dialed Nagi's phone number – _it was then Tsuna realized that even Nagi had brought a phone at the camp, seriously, how had the teachers even allowed them to bring them?_ \- and a moment later Nagi, Takeshi and Kyoko had appeared in the garden, and they tried their best to console Haru. Kyoko had brought Haru to their room and Nagi followed, while the boys stood awkwardly at the door, and leaned against the walls on the side of the door. Nagi had kept the door open so as they could directly listen to what had happened – _as well as keep away anyone from eavesdropping on them_ –Kyoya's presence did wonders in scaring any sneaking kid off. It took a few minutes for Kyoko to coax Haru, and all the while Haru just kept blubbering nonsense, and repeatedly apologized for being useless and pathetic and not good enough to win even a silly competition-

-each word of apology spoken out of her lips darkened the faces of her friends, and it wasn't long before Kyoya stomped away in rage, not trusting himself to listen to his friend's depressed cries. Takeshi and Tsuna still guarded the door of the girls' room, and tried their best not to let their anger get into their heads. It took a while for Kyoko to get the whole story from haru, and after learning from her what had happened to her, Kyoko coaxed Haru to sleep –and Nagi discreetly doused some indigo fire over Haru's forehead to keep away her nightmares, easing her sleep.

After that, Kyoko and Nagi quietly shut the door of their room and followed Tsuna to now empty cafeteria, where Kyoya was already waiting for them at their table. he was already perched on his chair.

As they neared her, he told them, "I have already arranged everything. No one will approach the cafeteria for the night. We can plan whatever we want right now."

Those words were what everyone had wanted to hear, since they all shared a look, with only one thought ringing in their minds-

They had to do something. Because no one hurts their friend and gets away with it unscathed.

 _No. freaking. one._

And the ones who hurt their resident Psyduck will not be spared. They will definitely _pay_. Tsuna –as their (Team)Leader- will make _sure of it._

Tsuna's eyes glimmered orange in determination and he clapped his hands to get the attention of his friends present – _sans Haru_. An idea occurred to him, and his orange fire helped it develop into a fool proof plan.

"I have a plan," he announced to the others as they listened to him with rapt attention. "-and I need your help with it."

Nagi cocked her head to the side and asked quietly, "Does it include getting revenge for Psyduck-chan?"

Tsuna smiled and answered, "…among other things, yes."

"Then I'm in." Nagi declared, her eyes glinting a cold indigo.

"Hn." Kyoya agreed with Nagi's words.

"Hahaha, sounds interesting! Count me in too!" Takeshi exclaimed with a glimmer of blue in his eyes.

"Me too!" Kyoko chirped, her brown orbs flickered yellow for a second.

Tsuna grinned at her words, and the rest of his friends soon followed with, and their eyes alighted with the respective color of their flames.

Needless to say, some people were going to face misfortune soon enough.

* * *

~ **EXTRA -2~**

After discussing their plan several times and then making sure that each of them remembered their parts in it, they were finally ready to retire for the night.

"Wait a minute!" Takeshi exclaimed. "we forgot the most important thing!"

The others tensed.

"What?" Kyoko asked.

"We forgot to name our team for this plan!" Takeshi said solemnly.

Kyoya almost face palmed at his words. "Are you serious?!" He demanded.

"Very." Takeshi nodded.

"That is a valid question." Kyoko mused.

"This is important." Nagi agreed.

"You can't be serious." Kyoya said flatly.

The others ignored Kyoya as they blurted out the names that came to their mind.

"the Psyduck Avenging team?" Nagi suggested.

"No, that will give away the aim of our plan really easily." Kyoko pointed out.

"What about the amazingly awesome Team of badasses?" Takeshi wondered.

"I won't even deem that a response, it was that horrible." Nagi deadpanned.

"What about the Justice League?" Kyoko offered.

"No." Tsuna and Nagi flatly refused. "Just, no."

Tsuna blinked as he realized that the orange fire inside him tugged his senses, as if trying to whisper conspiringly to him. He tilted is head and concentrated at it. His brows furrowed as he somehow made out the words it tried to speak it him.

"The Rainbow Junior Association?" He blurted out, and when he found the others staring at him, he blinked and finally realized that he had spoken that out loud.

"Hey, I like that name!" Takeshi said.

Nagi nodded. "It's acceptable."

Kyoko clapped her hands excitedly, "It's adorable!"

"I highly object!" Kyoya snarled. _Like hell he'd be willing to be called an associate of a team whose name is similar to Arcobaleno!_ Just think about it Arcobaleno includes cursed infants, and Rainbow Jr. association consist of pre-teens who will one day become the Vongola tenth generation. _This is like a disaster waiting to happen!_

"Denied!" Nagi and Takeshi said in unison, and Kyoko couldn't help but giggle.

"Objection overruled!" Tsuna shot Kyoya an apologetic look. "Sorry cloud-san, Majority rules!"

Kyoya glowered at everyone else, and conjured plastic tonfas in his hands with his mist flames. "Change the name of the team, or _I'll bite you to death!"_

 _"Hieeeeeeeeeeeee!"_


	19. Elysian

**A/N:- Well, I was supposed to almost finish the Summer camp arc in this chapter, but then Kyoko-chan decided in all her divine glory that she wanted this chapter to show off her awesomeness, and yup. I backed down before her awesomeness.**

 **Well, it's not my fault she's too _sunny_ for me to handle~ **

**...Ahem. Enough with the bad puns. On a serious note, I apologize for the late update as well as this short update. treat it as an appetizer, will you? the main course will be much, much intense, i assure you! And as soon as we complete the Summer camp arc we'll head right into the mess with the source of all of Kyo-chan's angst as well as the mess with Hibari Family~**

 **(IMPORTANT) There's another thing I'd like to bring to attention today. If you want to translate any of my works into another language on another site, at least first ask me -the author- before you do so. You can't just take someone else's work and put it on another site in a different language without informing the Original Author. And if you can't get through the original author, then the least you could do is to mention the original author and their original story on the translated words. Otherwise, your unapproved translation of an original work would be nothing less than plagiarism.**

 **I would keep mum about this incident just this once, for that person and I have come to an agreement. I hope they keep their end of the bargain, as I have done with mine. Thanks again Reader-chan (I wouldn't want anyone go blaming them for anything which is why I'm not writing their FFN ID name) for giving me a heads up about it! I truly appreciate your support and thank you so much for bringing this issue to my attention!**

 **Alright, now that I've said everything I want you to know... Enjoy~**

* * *

 _ **Elysian**_

 _(adj.) Beautiful or creative; divinely inspired; peaceful and perfect_

~O~

* * *

Haru woke up the next morning feeling oddly tired. She remembered yesterday's events of how she lost against Ami-chan, as well as how she had broken down and worried her friends with her sudden crying. Remembering the latter part of yesterday's events made her feel ashamed enough to let the ground swallow her because, gods! She actually broke down crying before her new friends?! Really? And for such a silly reason too! They must be thinking she was weird or something, to actually cry over losing against a better opponent in a competition.

And well…. they would be right to an extent, wouldn't they? She did break down crying because she lost against Ami-chan, hadn't she? She really was so stupid… to actually cry over the fact that Ami-chan's design was better than her. Besides, it was obvious from the very start that Ami-chan would win because well…it's Ami-chan! She's perfect in everything she does! How can Haru –who's only talent was in the area of sewing and designing- compare to her? Of course, against someone like her, Haru's creation wasn't even worth comparing. And to cry over the sight of a dumb stuffed toy being thrown like a trash, how stupid! What was there to cry about at that? Just because she wanted those stuffed toys for her friends, and that the Psyduck resembled her to some extent –if only because her new friends called her 'Psyduck-chan'- didn't mean she had to cry like that just because someone else was manhandling their toys. Silly Haru, what was there to be hurt about? The toy was the toy, and Haru was Haru! She wasn't like the stuffed toy that Satsuki-chan said was "worthless"! There was no reason to cry over that!

(…..So why did she still feel hurt over yesterday's events? Why did she still feel something inside her squeeze painfully the moment she remembered Satsuki-chan's words from yesterday about the stuffed toy? Why did Ami-chan's careless regard for something that Haru had tried her best to gain, as well as Satsuki-chan's blatant disregard of the only thing that she felt resembled herself, pained her to this extent? Why did she feel ashamed of facing her friends -would they even want to be her friends now, after she had cried like a toddler over such a stupid thing?\- because the one thing that Haru could do better wasn't enough to win one silly competition? WhywhywhywhywhywHYWHY-?!)

Wiping the tears that had slid down her cheeks, she hid her face behind her palms and wondered if she should just pull the blanket over her head and wake up only when she felt brave enough to face everyone. The others won't mind if she 'slept' in for a while, right?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door of their room opening slightly, and soft footsteps approached her bed.

"Haru-chan," Kyoko's soft voice made her relax her tensed shoulders. "Get ready quickly, okay? The others are waiting."

Haru peeked through her fingers and asked hesitantly, "Can I not go?"

"But-" Kyoko frowned and tried to protest, but Haru's pleas made her falter.

"Please, Kyoko-chan?"

Kyoko stared at her with unreadable eyes for a while, and then she sighed. "Fine," She grumbled under her breath, sounding a bit dejected by Haru's refusal. "Rest here for a while, then. I'll bring you your breakfast." She then perked up as she remembered something, and insisted, "But do come out at lunch, 'kay? It's gonna be really interesting!"

"What? I don't-"

"Okay then, that's a promise!" Kyoko chirped happily as she cut off Haru's arguments and took off.

"Wait, Kyoko-chan-"

*slam!*

Haru stared flabbergasted at the now closed door that Kyoko had just exited from, and thought about Kyoko's words that she had said before she had left.

"Why do I have a feeling the rest of them are up to no good?" She mumbled under her breath, and for some reason felt trepidation –and a little bit of excitement- for the upcoming afternoon.

Just what sort of mischief were the others up to now?

* * *

The others –with the exception of Kyoya- turned towards Kyoko as soon as she entered the cafeteria. Tsuna glanced behind her and asked with a knowing glint in his eyes, "She didn't come, did she?"

Kyoko shook her head disappointedly.

"Oh well, that was to be expected." Nagi said with a shrug as she took a sip of her orange juice.

"So….. now what?" Takeshi asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am busy with something." Kyoko chirped.

"Ah…. I forgot about that." Takeshi admitted with a chuckle.

"See you later everyone!" Kyoko waved them goodbye and started walking away.

"Give 'em hell, Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna called out to her.

Kyoko paused her footsteps, and then turned towards them with a smile -however, with her bangs shading her eyes her smile seemed more demonic than one of an innocent angel. "With pleasure." She purred dangerously as she lifted her head slightly, and the bangs shadowing her eyes shifted, giving way to the golden flames glittering in her eyes like some divine light.

She then went on her way, leaving behind four speechless pre-teens.

"A-Ah, Orange-san, I sort of feel pity for our foes." Nagi muttered in pity.

Tsuna quirked his brow and asked knowingly, "Do you really now?"

Her previous pitying expression was immediately wiped from her face and she smirked wicked, "Pfft- Of course now."

Kyoya snorted. "Enough. Let's get going. We have work to do."

"That we do." Takeshi agreed, and with a final glance towards each other, the four of them parted ways.

* * *

"Are you all ready?" Hayama-sensei asked the adorable little girls, who all answered in a chorus of "Yes",making him almost smile at the cuteness overload. He however, resisted the urge to coo at them and continued on with an expressionless face, "Alright, I want you all to make a dish of your own choice. You can work in pairs if you want. You have two hours to cook a dish, garnish it and present it before the time limit is up. And the magic ingredient is-" he dramatically said and watched in amusement the little girls lean a bit forward. "Egg!" He exclaimed, and watched the girls huff in disappointment. How cute~ "Now that you know the rules, what are you waiting for? Grab your teammate, gather your ingredients and start cooking! Let's see who wins the Cooking Competition today!"

The girls cheered and quickly scurried off to partner with their friends and gather ingredients. He watched as all the girls picked a partner and went towards the back to grab the ingredients. He glanced at the ingredients they picked up, and he guessed most of them were making desserts, especially simple desserts like pancakes, custard, egg tarts etc. He didn't really expect them to make any fancy dishes. After all, they were little girls. As long as they even present him with a perfect pancake -or even a boiled egg- he'd still give them full marks. Just the fact that these little girls were doing their best to cook something with all their love and passion was enough to move him.

He walked around the kitchen-slash-classroom along with his Teaching assistants' to inspect the ongoing preparation by the girls' duos -and sometimes couldn't resist correcting their mistakes while he did his inspection. He passed by Ami and Satsuki duo, and couldn't help but be impressed by the prep they were readying. He spied one of the ingredients as ready-made shortcrust pastry -so maybe they're making some sort of pizza or quiche? He couldn't be sure. He watched over them as Ami-chan used the oven expertly and instructed Satsuki-chan on whisking eggs, milk and cream without making much mess. Feeling that he wasn't needed much there -which was to be expected, since Ami-chan was a perfect little darling who knew what she was doing in the kitchen- and moved on. He nodded in satisfaction and moved on. He walked past Kyoko-chan used a stove all alone-

-Wait, alone?

He backpedalled and watched bewildered as Kyoko-chan put kale in the now boiling water inside the saucepan with no sight of her partner.

"Kyoko-chan, are you participating all alone? You didn't partner up with anyone in the class?" hayama-Sensei asked, bewildered.

Kyoko turned the heat of the mini-stove to the lowest and turned towards her Sensei and shook her head. "No sensei, I'm participating by myself today."

"Why?" he asked in concern. "Do you not get along with the other girls in your class?" That wasn't true, since he had seen with his very own eyes that Kyoko was a little sweetheart who got along with everyone in the class. So, why didn't she partner up with anyone?

"It's not that, Sensei." She shook her head. "There's something I need to do, and I have to do it alone."

"Are you sure?" He asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, sensei." Kyoko said reassuringly to him. "Look, I think the others need your help." She kindly pointed him towards a few girls who desperately needed his help, and after asking her to call him if she needed his help, he moved on to the next pair.

Kyoko glanced back at the Ami-Satsuki pair working on their dish and narrowed her eyes. "I won't let you win this time." She vowed. "After all, I have a point to prove, a partner to avenge, and a friendship bond to save."

"There's no way I'm going to let you maintain your win streak, Ami Matsukaze." Kyoko quietly muttered as she picked the eggs one by one and separated the yolk into a bowl, not noticing her hands glowing with divine light that was absorbed by the eggs -the yolk of which she was separating- in her hands.

* * *

"Alright, girls!" Hayama-Sensei clapped his hand to grab his pupils' attention. "Time's up! Come up with your dishes!"

The girls tidied up their spaces, and one-by-one came up with their dishes. As he had noticed earlier, most of the girls had made desserts. Pancakes, pies, egg-tarts, so many kinds of desserts! While most of them weren't that delicious -one was even charred black, seriously, was that supposed to be a souffle?!- he had to applaud their efforts. He never knew teaching little kids could be so satisfying. Maybe Nayuki and Suzuki had the right idea when they had grabbed him from his job as a First Class chef and forced him to act as a Teacher for a bunch of kids.

He criticised another pair of girls for not whisking the mixture properly in the chocolate pudding -and there's a thing called too much chocolate, they should remember that- and after praising them for their effort -and the fact that they followed recipe to the best of their ability he then sent them off.

"Next, Code number 14!" he called out to the next pair, as he put in the scores of the previous pair of girls in a notepad.

A tray was placed before him, and when the girl before him cleared her throat, he glanced up. He couldn't help but smile at Satsuki-chan's nervous visage, as well as Ami's confident posture. The precocious girl gestured to the tray and said, "Sensei, we tried making Cherry Tomato Quiche. We hope you like it. Bon appetit."

"Ah, it truly looks delicious, Ami-chan." Hayama-Sensei couldn't help but smile when he saw the cute little cherry tomatoes scattered around the cheesy spread on top of the crust. It truly looked appetizing. He picked up a slice and noticed how it had been cut perfectly so as not unbalance the cheesy spread on the other slices. He bit into the warm quiche slice and was taken aback by the taste. It was delicious. It wasn't something he expected to be cooked by a little girl's hands.

The balance between the flavor of the cherry tomatoes and the cheese was well maintained. The extra herbs mixed into it only brought out the flavour more. However, the thing which bound the whole dish together was-

"The batter. Of course, it's the taste of milk, cream and egg yolk, perfectly balanced with salt and pepper." He muttered, amazed. He stared at Ami-chan and spoke in amazement, "Amazing. Truly delicious. It's a dish worth winning, Ami-chan, Satsuki-chan." he praised them.

Satsuki squealed in happiness and hugged Ami-chan, who just shrugged casually as if she wasn't affected by the high praises of her teacher. "Thank you Sensei."

The other participants murmured and almost everyone agreed that none of their dishes received that much praise, and hence, they might not be Ami and Satsuki's dish's competition.

"She'll win today." A girl muttered.

"Definitely." Her friend agreed.

"Excuse me!" A cheerful voice chirped and everyone turned towards Kyoko as she walked forward smilingly with a tray in her hands. "You didn't call my code number, sensei, so I thought you forgot about my dish!" Kyoko chirped.

"Ah, I apologize Kyoko-chan. I forgot all about you. Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan's dish was that delicious." Hayama-Sensei chuckled good naturedly as he apologised.

"It's fine, sensei." Kyoko forgave him easily..

"What's the point? It's not like her dish would be anywhere near Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan's dish's taste." Someone in the crowd whispered, and the others agreed with them.

Kyoko didn't mind the hushed whispers and presented her dish to the teacher. hayama-Sensei curiously looked at it, and raised in brow in surprise.

"This is-"

"Yup! It's a Quiche! Just like the one Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan presented earlier!" kyoko agreed cheerily.

"What?" Satsuki asked in annoyance while Ami just narrowed her eyes at Kyoko. But after a glance at her dish she patted Satsuki's arm assuringly.

At Kyoko's words, whispers immediately broke out from the crowd of little girls.

"You're kidding right?"

"That 's a Quiche?! I thought she's presenting a burnt pizza to Sensei."

"Compared to the earlier Cheery Tomato Quiche, it doesn't even look appetising."

"If she wanted to compete with Ami and Satsuki-chan, at least she should've chosen a better -and easier- quiche to cook. What is with that unappetising thing over there?"

"Well, you wouldn't know if it's appetising or not until you try it, right?" Kyoko said a bit too loudly and implored her teacher with big, doe-like eyes, pleading him to at least taste it.

Hayama-Sensei melted under her cute gaze and spoke. "She's right. I guess there's one way to find out~" saying this, he picked up a slice of the still warm quiche and bit into it. The cheese seemed to melted into his mouth, making his tongue taste amazing combination of flavors. He actually couldn't believe Kyoko would bring out the best flavors of those vegetables. And the most important thing that actually bound the flavors together without overwhelming the whole dish were eggs.

Ami-chan, Satsuki-chan and Kyoko made the same kind of dish with the same type of ingredients -especially eggs- that were offered to everyone. However, for some reason it seemed as if the ingredients Kyoko-chan used were of higher level -fresher and much more nutrient- than the ones the others used. How was that possible?

His eyes widened and he spoke as soon as he swallowed, "This is-"

* * *

At Lunchtime, the four of them surrounded Kyoko. Takeshi asked eagerly, "Did you win?!"

Kyoko smiled brightly at them and asked mischievously, "What do you think?"

Nagi and Takeshi exchanged a look and shook their heads, admitting defeat. Kyoya didn't deem er worthy of his answer, which left Tsuna. He stared at Kyoko with warm amber eyes, and wondered out loud, "You won, didn't you?"

"Yup!" Kyoko beamed and then opened the wide-sized bento box in which she had put the spare Quiche she had made for her friends. "I left one for you too."

The four of them peered into the bento box and scrunched their noses at the sight before them.

"...You made this in the competition and won?" Kyoya asked sceptically.

"Was the teacher blind?" Nagi asked incredulously.

"Come on guys, I'm sure it doesn't taste as bad as it looks." Tsuna protested on Kyoko's behalf, but the uneasy look on his face made it obvious that he too was unsure about this dish.

Takeshi poked the tart with a chopstick and asked, "Well, the yellowish spread must be cheese, but what is that burnt pink holes scattered all over it? Some sort of decoration gone wrong?"

Kyoko just smiled mysteriously and said, "Just try it once." she coaxed them. "I promise you won't regret it."

Seeing the wary looked everyone shared, Kyoko challenged them mockingly "Oh, are you all scared? I didn't know you were all scaredy cats, herbivores." She used Hibari-sempai's catchphrase to incite them, and true to her thoughts, it did make the others step up for the challenge. Or well, Hibari-sempai did.

Kyoya bristled like an angry cat at her mocking words and immediately grabbed a slice and put it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly and a while later his eyes widened as the delicious taste conquered his tongue. He narrowed his eyes in pleasure and sighed in bliss.

Seeing their most reluctant member's over the top reaction made the others flabbergasted. "What. the. Hell." Nagi muttered disbelievingly.

Tsuna stared at the blissful expression on Kyoya's face, and then back at the slice of quiche lying innocently in the bento box. He grabbed onto a slice and bit into it, and immediately went to la-la land. Nagi and Takeshi shared a curious look and followed his example as they took their own slices and had the same reactions as their friends.

"It's delicious~" Tsuna moaned.

"So, so delicious!" Takeshi agreed wholeheartedly.

"What quiche is this?" Nagi asked in delight.

"It's a Beetroot, Kale and Goat's Cheese Quiche." Kyoko answered and watched their reactions in amusement.

"Beetroot?!" Nagi choked on her tart slice.

"Kale?!" Tsuna gagged and immediately handed his slice to takeshi, who wolfed it down with ease.

"Come on guys, that's a bit too much." Takeshi said with a grin. "It was so tasty~"

"You're lying, right?" Nagi asked. "There's no way you actually made such a delicious dish from Beetroot and Kale."

"It's all true~" Kyoko said cheerily.

Nagi staggered back and said dramatically, "That can't be."

Tsuna slammed his face into the wooden table and muttered, "Sanity is truly dead."

Takeshi couldn't help but laughed at his friends' extreme reactions. "Hahaha, you guys are so funny!"

Kyoya ignored the dramatic moans of his chibi-Sky and baby mist and stared expectantly at the bento box where the last slice still remained. Noticing his gaze, Kyoko quickly shut the lid and pulled the bento box towards her, as if afraid the older Hibari would snatch it from her hands. "It's for Haru-chan, Hibari-sempai." She informed him, and he reluctantly put his gaze away from it. He then patted her head -as if she were a pet- for a job well done, and then walked past her, not noticing how Kyoko visibly brightened at his subtle praise.

"Hey, Hibari-sempai has the right idea!" Takeshi exclaimed when he noticed their interaction. "We should congratulate Kyoko-chan for her win!"

"Come on you two!" he ushered Nagi and Tsuna to join in with his cheering, to which they did so indulgently after rolling their eyes.

"Alright!" Nagi said as she clapped her hands to gather the boys attention. "Three cheers for our resident Divine Cook! Hip, Hip-"  
"Hurrah!"

As they did the three cheers for Kyoko, the younger Sasagawa couldn't help but giggle at their antics.

"Well, not that I don't appreciate it," Kyoko spoke a when they were finally done with their cheers. "But don't you think you're forgetting something?"

The three of them shared a look. "What?" Takeshi asked, puzzled. While Nagi and Tsuna seemed to realize what she meant.

Kyoko stood up from the chair she was sitting in and spoke with a steely look in her eyes, "i mean, I've done what you've told me to do." She stared at them in the eyes and said seriously, "I've made it clear to Ami-chan and Satsuki-chan that I-no, we're opposing them. And we'll win against them in the team competition and win the first prize."

"So don't make my and Haru-chan's efforts go to waste."

The three of them returned her serious look and vowed in unison, "Never."

* * *

 _When the sun shines bright, no one expects that the weather would change by the drop of a hat at the next moment._

 _Well...What can I say?_

 _The weather can be so unpredictable these days~_


End file.
